NZ stocks end the day lower - Market close

Hallenstein Glasson increased 20c or 3.23% to $6.40 after reporting an increase in revenue and net profit for the 12 months ending August 1. Photo / NZME

The New Zealand sharemarket was hampered by end-of-quarter portfolio rebalancing in late heavy trading, while Hallenstein Glasson reported a solid annual result.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index reached an intraday high of 12,504.89 but fell in the flurry of the broker matching session, closing at 12,423.82 – down 33.59 points or 0.27%. A total of 65.04 million shares worth $294.3 million were traded.

Hallenstein Glasson increased 20c or 3.23% to $6.40 after reporting a 6.3% increase in revenue to $435.63m and net profit of $34.48m, up 7.9%, for the 12 months ending August 1. It is paying a 26.5c a share final dividend on December 13.

Gross margin increased to 59.4%, from 57.3c. Glassons Australia’s revenue was $218.1m, up 14.1% and net profit of $19.5m, up 14%, and in New Zealand sales were $110.1m, down 2.1% and net profit of $10.8m, down 1%. Hallensteins total revenue was $107.5m, up 1.2% and net profit of $5.3m, up 37.4%.

Hallenstein Glasson said sales improved 10.9% in the first eight weeks of the new financial year compared with the same period last year, with good performance from the Australian market.

Salt Funds Management managing director Matt Goodson said Hallenstein Glasson has outperformed their apparel peers on both sides of the Tasman in a tricky market. “They hit the right price point and continue to do well.”

Other retail stocks: Briscoe was up 3c to $4.83; Michael Hill decreased 1c or 1.89% to 52c; The Warehouse declined 3c or 2.5% to $1.17; and KMD Brands was down 1.5c or 3% to 48.5c.

Fletcher Building, upweighted on the NZX index because of more shares on issue, increased 22c or 8.06% to $2.95 on brokers’ updates. Goodson said Fletcher’s share price continues to bounce around.

“There are two schools of thought: some think the company is irreparably damaged and others think value will return when the (economic) cycle changes.”

Ebos Group was up 29c to $36.14; Freightways gained 10c to $9.10; Mercury Energy increased 15c or 2.38% to $6.45; Contact collected 15c or 1.87% to $8.17, Summerset added 15c to $11.95; NZME was up 3c or 2.97% to $1.04; and Blackpearl Group rose 21 or 19.27% to $1.30.

Global marketer a2 Milk was up 6c to $6.85 after resuming trading following its price enquiry response to ASX Compliance. A2 said its share price bounce last week most likely resulted from the economic stimulus packages in China – the China A300 Consumer Staples Index was up 27% for the week.

A2 said the discussions regarding the potential acquisition of a manufacturing facility were incomplete, with no binding terms agreed, and there is no certainty a transaction will occur.

Market speculation is that a2 Milk is looking to buy Yashili’s $220m infant formula processing facility in Pokeno or Oceania Dairy’s manufacturing plant in South Canterbury.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 75c or 2.11% to $34.75; Port of Tauranga declined 21c or 3.41% to $5.95; Gentrack decreased 31c or 2.81% to $10.74; Skellerup eased 11c or 2.36% to $4.55; Vista Group shed 12c or 4.27% to $2.69; and Third Age Health fell 11c or 5% to $2.09.

Comvita, up 5c or 4.35% to $1.20, told the market its bank syndicate is continuing ongoing support for the company and has provided time to finalise the covenant structure for the 2025 financial year.

Last week Comvita put out a correction to its 2024 underlying results. Operating earnings (Ebitda) is now $10.3m rather than $14.6m and net loss $9.3m instead of $5.6m. Reported net loss is unchanged at $77.4m.

Synlait Milk, unchanged at 39c, reported annual revenue of $1.636 billion, up 2%, and a net loss of $182.11m mainly as a result of a $114.6m impairment against its long-term assets as it resets its business.

Synlait said for the 2025 financial year, it is focused on accelerating volume growth in the advanced nutrition and food-service divisions. “Synlait’s ability to achieve a successful refinance of its banking facilities one year from now will require a marked improvement in trading performance and retained milk supply (through a reduction in farmer supplier cessations).”

AFT Pharmaceuticals, up 7c or 2.22% to $3.23, has an exclusive licensing agreement with Xizang Weixinkang Pharmaceutical Co in China for the intravenous form of Maxigesic IV pain relief medicine.

AFT said it now has agreements in nine of the top 10 pharma markets – the United States, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Canada, Spain, Brazil and China.

Being AI gained 3c or 4.23% to 74c after extending its share purchase plan till October 11 following further interest. Being had received subscriptions for 477,711 new shares at 60c a share.