Infratil’s revenue was up 54 per cent to $1.46 billion and net profit climbed 118 per cent to $1.214b. It is paying an interim dividend of 7c a share on December 19.
Mainfreight was down $2.10 or 3.14 per cent to $64.80; Contact Energy declined 13c to $7.77; Fisher and Paykel Healthcare shed 25c to $21.90; and Port of Tauranga decreased 7c to $5.41 after their recent rallies.
Jeremy Sullivan, investment adviser with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said: “Market sentiment has improved with some stocks up nicely and it looks like there’s been some short-term profit-taking.
“We also saw a robust adjustment in the currency with the NZ dollar back under US60c after a 2.5 per cent rise in the cross-rate,” Sullivan said. The kiwi was trading at US59.80c against the American greenback.
Ebos went into a trading halt after speculation it has an interest in buying Australian pet care and veterinary company Greencross, which operates Animates in New Zealand and has an overall valuation of $3.5 billion. Ebos last traded at $38.60.
Greencross is owned by American investment firm TPG Capital, AustralianSuper and Ontario Pension Plan. Greencross recently bought Melbourne-based Habitat Pet Supplies with five stores.
Ebos’ last big purchase was LifeHealthcare early last year for $1.2b. Mark Lister, investment director with Craigs Investment Partners, said Ebos has a history of acquiring other businesses and integrating them well into their own operations.
Some investors thought Ebos might be buying New Zealand-listed Green Cross Health which had its biggest trading day in six months with 93,500 shares changing hands. Green Cross was down 3c or 2.48 per cent to $1.18.
Global a2 Milk was up 9c or 2.22 per cent to $4.15 after telling shareholders at the annual meeting it is on track to grow sales to $2b by the 2026 financial year and improve operating (ebitda) margin into the ‘teens’.
The property sector was weaker. Precinct was down 4c or 3.38 per cent to $1.145; Kiwi declined 3c or 3.49 per cent to 83c; Stride fell 5c or 3.7 per cent to $1.30; Property for Industry shed 4.5c or 2.01 per cent to $2.195; Goodman Trust was down 3.5c to $2.12; and Investore decreased 2c to $1.12.
Investore, specialising in large format retail properties, reported steady half-year revenue of $30.37m and a net loss of $66.53m, driven by an $82.7m or 7.8 per cent reduction in the value of its $1b portfolio. It is paying an interim dividend of 1.975c a share on December 12.
Wine exporter Delegat Group decreased 25c or 3.29 per cent to $7.35 after downgrading its forecasts, with global case sales expected to decline 1.7 per cent to 3.61m and net profit down to $57m-$61m for the 2024 financial year. The previous guidance was $62m-$67m.
Fellow exporter Foley Wines was down 4c or 3.23 per cent to $1.20.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels NZ, down 2c to $1.85, and sister company CDL Investment, decreasing 1.5c or 1.88 per cent to 78.5c, were both fined $50,000 by the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal for breaching rules concerning the make-up of its audit committees between 2018 and 2020.
Other decliners were SkyCity, down 5c or 2.75 per cent to $1.77; Serko, falling 14c or 3.08 per cent to $4.41; and Scott Technology, shedding 10c or 2.9 per cent to $3.35.
