Market close: Steel & Tube shares higher after upgrading earnings guidance

Processor and distributor Steel & Tube gained 4c or 3.54 per cent to $1.17 after slightly upgrading its June year operating earnings (ebitda) guidance.

The New Zealand sharemarket drifted sideways in a quiet day’s trading, while small cap stock Metro Performance Glass rejected a takeover bid by two prominent businessmen.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index lacked conviction and closed at 11,932.81, down 6.1 points or 0.05 per cent after reaching an intraday high of 11,944.35.

There were 71 gainers and 58 decliners over the whole market on light volumes of 23.13 million share transactions worth $88.09 million.

Ryman Healthcare, down 1c to $6.94, dominated the trading with $14.38m worth of its shares changing hands.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the market had a weaker lead from Australia which was down half a per cent at one point. “I think our market is waiting for the earnings season next month.”

The S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 0.25 per cent to 7280.1 points at 6pm NZ time.

In the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its sixth straight day of rises and closed overnight at its highest level since the end of November last year, after gaining 0.22 per cent to 34,585.35 points.

The technology-driven Nasdaq Composite has now climbed 36 per cent this year after gaining a further 0.93 per cent to 14,244.95 points.

At home, Metro Performance Glass increased 3.2c or 20.38 per cent to 18.9c after announcing an offer by Takutai and Masfen Securities significantly undervalued the company and it was not in its best interests to progress the proposal.

Metro, with a market capitalisation of $34.29m, has fallen from 46c since mid-August 2021.

Takutai, controlled by Vulcan Steel founder Peter Wells, combined with Peter Masfen’s family company to increase their shareholding in Metro to 25.12 per cent and offer to buy all the remaining shares at 18c.

Metro, the leading glass supplier and manufacturer in New Zealand, said it is continuing to progress the sale of Australian Glass Group.

Processor and distributor Steel & Tube gained 4c or 3.54 per cent to $1.17 after slightly upgrading its June year operating earnings (ebitda) guidance to $52m-$53m, from $48m-$52m. It had earlier downgraded its forecast and said second half volumes were expected to be 10-15 per cent lower than the first half.

Carbon Fund continued to climb, rising 7c or 4.43 per cent to $1.65 as the government reviews its price settings for the Emissions Trading Scheme following last week’s High Court ruling. Since then, the wholesale carbon price has risen 35 per cent from $37 a tonne to $50.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 38c to $24.20; a2 Milk declined 8c to $5.50; Summerset Group shed 13c to $10.37; and SkyCity decreased 5c or 2.13 per cent to $2.30.

Fletcher Building gained 7c to $5.54; Port of Tauranga was up 8c to $6.28; and leading banks ANZ and Westpac increased 71c or 2.71 per cent to $26.95 and 25c to $23.45 respectively.

Meridian Energy, up 6c to $5.46, reported a 0.3 per cent fall in sales volumes for June compared with the same month last year, while fourth quarter sales were down 0.6 per cent at a 10.8 per cent higher average price. Customer numbers declined 0.6 per cent.

In the month to July 12, national hydro storage decreased from 143 per cent to 121 per cent of the historical average. Meridian’s provisional full-year operating costs were $249m, $2m or 0.8 per cent above the top of the guidance range, and capital expenditure was $346m, near the lower end of the range.

Fellow energy stocks Contact gained 15c or 1.87 per cent to $8.18; Vector collected 4c to $4.02; Mercury was down 7c to $6.33; and Manawa decreased 5c to $4.74.

Other decliners were Accordant Group down 5c or 3.62 per cent to $1.33; Radius Residential Care decreasing 1.5c or 6.22 per cent to 21.5c; Restaurant Brands shedding 10c to $6.35; and NZME down 2c or 2.13 per cent to 92c.

Rakon decreased 4c or 4.65 per cent to 82c; Smartpay Holdings was down 3.5c or 1.84 per cent to $1.865; and Green Cross Health declined 4c or 2.9 per cent to $1.34.

Retailers Hallenstein Glasson increased 15c or 2.46 per cent to $6.25; Briscoe Group was up 5c to $4.17; and The Warehouse was down 3c to $1.60.

Other gainers were Sky TV adding 7c or 2.98 per cent to $2.42; Colonial Motor Company up 18c or 1.99 per cent to $9.23; Paysauce increasing 2c or 8.51 per cent to 25.5c; Investore collecting 3c or 2.13 per cent to $1.44; and NZ Rural Land up 3c or 3.37 per cent to 92c.

Pacific Edge, gaining 0.001c to 20c, reported in its shareholder update that Cxbladder test volumes reached a record 9706 in the first quarter of the new financial year, 9 per cent more than the further quarter of the 2023 financial year. The volumes were also 38 per cent up on the first quarter of last year.

United States volumes led the growth, rising 10 per cent to 8627 in the first quarter. The number of ordering clinicians increased to 1232, representing more than 10 per cent of the practising urologists in the US.

Pacific Edge’s continued Medicare funding in the US is being reviewed by contractor Novitas.