Market close: Pacific Edge shares jump while market drifts

Pacific Edge rose 6.5c or 15.12 per cent to 49.5c.

Investors sat back and looked ahead to the King’s Birthday weekend break as the New Zealand sharemarket drifted to a small loss.

There was a moment when the S&P/NZX 50 Index rose sharply at lunchtime, reaching a high of 11,930.22. But the index sold off in the afternoon and closed at 11,880.9, down 35.22 points or 0.3 per cent.

The index was slightly ahead for the week and is up about 3.3 per cent for the year so far.

There were 75 gainers and 58 decliners on the main board with 26.29 million shares worth $104.36 million changing hands.

Shane Solly, portfolio manager with Harbour Asset Management, said the market pulled back from the MSCI indices changes earlier in the week and it was pretty quiet.

He said the Australian minimum wage has been increased 5.75 per cent and the potential for higher official cash rates from their Reserve Bank is increasing.

From July 1, the minimum wage for 2.75 million workers increases to A$882.80 ($957.68) a week or A$23.23 an hour. The S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 0.5 per cent to 7146.4 points at 5.45pm NZ time.

In the United States, the S&P 500 Index, increasing 0.99 per cent to 4221.02 points, and technology-driven Nasdaq Composite, up 1.28 per cent to 13,100.98, are at their highest levels since August last year.

The Nasdaq, gaining 25 per cent so far this year, has increased for six straight weeks, a streak not seen since January 2020.

At home, Pacific Edge rose 6.5c or 15.12 per cent to 49.5c after indicating it will know by next Friday whether Medicare will fund its Cxbladder tests in the United States. Pacific Edge has waited nearly a year for the assessment.

Solly said Pacific Edge has given clarity on the timing of the funding application and the market has taken heart from it.

“It’s a meaningful event if Pacific Edge gets approval. There’s been an overhang on the share price since the end of July last year, falling from 78c to 48c and chopping around 40c over the whole year,” he said.

Synlait Milk was up 5c or 3.23 per cent to $1.60 after telling the market it is looking to sell Dairyworks (Alpine and Rolling Meadow brands) and Talbot Forest Cheese as part of the capital review. Instead, Synlait will focus on the value-added advanced nutrition and food service businesses.

Solly said there is obviously some financial stress on Synlait and the divestment is a positive step. “Still, there’s still milk to go under the bridge on what price they can achieve for the sales.”

Smartpay Holdings, which provides merchant services in Australia and New Zealand including eftpos terminals, continued its charge, rising 12c 7.06 per cent to a 20-year high of $1.82. Smartpay has now risen 125 per cent over the past 12 months, after sitting on 63c at the end of June last year.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 42c to $24.05; Spark shed 8.5c to $5.195 on trade worth $12.7m; Mainfreight fell $1.93 or 2.78 per cent to $67.55; Ebos Group declined 39c to $41.46; Fletcher Building decreased 8c to $4.95; and Port of Tauranga was down 10c to $6.24.

Other decliners were Green Cross Health down 4c or 2.78 per cent to $1.40; Just Life falling 4c or 11.76 per cent to 30c; and Winton Land shedding 4c or 2.14 per cent to $1.83.

Accordant Group declined 6c or 3.563 per cent to $1.64. Accordant had earlier reported annual revenue of $227.37m, up 2.7 per cent, and net profit of $1.97m, down 34.1 per cent. It is paying a final dividend of 4c a share on June 30.

In the retail sector, Briscoe Group declined 10c or 2.22 per cent to $4.40, and Hallenstein Glasson was up 14c or 2.36 per cent to $6.06.

In the retirement village sector, Ryman Healthcare was down 6c to $6.25; Summerset Group declined 9c to $8.99; and Arvida Group was up 2c to $1.22.

In the property sector, Goodman Trust decreased 3.5c to $2.14 and Argosy was up 3c or 2.73 per cent to $1.13.

Chorus gained 11.5c to $8.505; Infratil added 11c to $9.99; Eroad rose 4c or 5.71 per cent to 74c; Skellerup Holdings improved 14c or 3.04 per cent to $4.74; and Scott Technology was up 5c or 1.85 per cent to $2.75.

In the energy sector, Meridian increased 12.5c or 2.29 per cent to $5.575, and Mercury was up 10c to $6.65.

Vector’s $1.7 billion sale of 50 per cent of its New Zealand and Australian metering business to QIC Private Capital is now unconditional following regulatory clearance and will be completed on June 30. Vector’s share price was up 2c to $4.

New Zealand Oil & Gas, unchanged at 39.5c, told the market the MN1 production well in the Maari/Manaia field offshore Taranaki has been repaired and is producing 800 barrels of oil per day.

Ventia Services, unchanged at $2.93, has secured a six-year Incident Response and Maintenance contract with Transurban Queensland worth $35m a year. Transurban operates and maintains roads, bridges and tunnels in southeast Queensland.