Sharemarket falls on confession day for stocks - Market close

Synlait Milk fell 10c or 12.05 per cent to 73c, a new 10-year low, after telling the market it is expecting a net loss of $17m-$21m for the half-year. Photo / Michael Craig

It was confession day on the New Zealand sharemarket with earnings revisions, civil legal proceedings and further uncertainty surrounding Fletcher Building all adding to a nearly 1 per cent fall.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index tumbled all day and closed at 11,757.97, down 104.98 points or 0.88 per cent, wiping out the gains for the year. The index started the week ahead by 0.8 per cent.

There were 50 gainers and 89 decliners over the whole market on light volumes of 20.25 million shares transactions worth $66.48 million.

Jeremy Sullivan, investment advisor with Hamilton Hindin Greene, said it was an eventful day and an indication of further things to come.

“The reporting season has got off to a bumpy start and we are likely to see mixed company results with a few more surprises springing up. It seems the (company) outlooks will be more variable than normal.”

The United States markets continued to steam on, with the S&P 500 closing above 5000 points for the first time, after gaining 0.57 per cent to 5026.61 during the weekend and rising in 14 of the last 15 weeks - a run not seen for more than 50 years.

The technology-driven Nasdaq Composite is now 70 points away from its record close, after rising 1.25 per cent to 15,990.66 points. Its peak was 16,057.44 in November 2021.

Since late October, the value of the S&P 500 has risen US$9 trillion, more than the entire value of China’s sharemarket.

At home, SkyCity was down 4c or 1.92 per cent to $2.04 after telling the market the Internal Affairs Department is filing High Court civil penalty proceedings alleging breaches of the anti-money laundering act.

The operator of casinos in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown, SkyCity could face liability of up to $8m. SkyCity said since late 2021 it had implemented a significant anti-money laundering enhancement programme to address compliance systems and correct historical shortcomings.

Fletcher Building, which announced $180m of additional provisions last week, went into a trading halt while it finalised half-year accounts before reporting its results on Wednesday. Fletcher last traded at $4.16.

Sullivan said further write-downs are likely but not certain. “It seems there will be a material divergence from Fletcher’s previous guidance. Fletcher had $15m in the kitty for the Iplex pipeline issue in Western Australia and they may have to increase that provision.”

Turners Automotive increased 9c or 2 per cent to $4.60 after upgrading its full-year gross profit to at least $48m compared with $45.5m for the 2023 financial year. The full-year dividend forecast has been increased to 25c a share, up from the previous guidance of 24c.

Turners said it was approaching a decade of sustainable dividend growth, with an 11 per cent compound growth rate since the 2015 financial year, and it would be reporting its fourth consecutive record profit.

Synlait Milk fell 10c or 12.05 per cent to 73c, a new 10-year low, after telling the market it is expecting a net loss of $17m-$21m for the half-year, compared with net profit of $4.8m for the previous corresponding period.

Synlait said the half-year result has been impacted by increasing financing and operational costs and margin reductions for ingredients and advanced nutrition.

T&G Global, up 2c to $1.95, is forecasting a net loss of $60m-$70m for the 2023 financial year compared with the previous guidance of $28m-$34m. T&G said there has been a hold-up in the insurance claim for the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare declined 65c or 2.66 per cent to $23.77; Mercury Energy was down 14c or 2.04 per cent to $6.71; Meridian decreased 6c to $5.55; Freightways shed 24c or 2.88 per cent to $8.09; Infratil gave up 16c to $10.45; and Serko was down 12c or 2.86 per cent to $4.08.

Heartland Group decreased 6c or 4.69 per cent to $1.22; Steel & Tube was down 3c or 2.54 per cent to $1.15; Ventia Services declined 10c or 2.78 per cent to $3.50; Restaurant Brands shed 16c or 4.22 per cent to $3.63; Winton Land was down 9c or 3.49 per cent to $2.49; and Bremworth fell 3c or 4.69 per cent to 61c.

Global marketer a2 Milk was up 10c or 1.8 per cent to $5.67; ANZ Bank gained 94c or 3.28 per cent to $29.60; Foley Wines rose 5c or 4.76 per cent to $1.10; 2 Cheap Cars increased 5c or 6.1 per cent to 87c; Green Cross Health collected 3c or 2.44 per cent to $1.26; and Chatham Rock Phosphate added 1.1c or 9.57 per cent to 12.6c.