New Zealand sharemarket runs out of puff - Market close

Cannasouth CEO Mark Lucas. The company, which urgently needs to secure funding, went into a trading halt while it settled a dispute with some of its secured convertible note holders. Photo / Alan Gibson

An uncertain New Zealand sharemarket ran out of puff and finished lower after five consecutive days of heady rises.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index had another turnaround from a fall in the morning to 11,988.05 points. But the afternoon momentum succumbed to a late dip and the index closed at 12,031.81, down 35.22 points or 0.29 per cent after reaching an intraday high of 12.078.

There were 67 gainers and 71 decliners on the main board with 36.49 million shares worth $137.74 million changing hands.

Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management, said the volumes and corporate news were light and that’s a familiar story.

“May be there is some pent-up performance and some buying leading into the close. Three years ago, the index peaked in the mid-13,000 points and it’s been an unusual market since then - considering markets increase over time,” Goodson said.

“When we see earnings growth from companies coming through, the market will move quickly. But maybe the bottom is with us for a little while yet.”

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare took a breather, gaining 3c to $26.45 on trade worth $17.81m.

Contact Energy gained 19c or 2.28 per cent to $8.53; Gentrack collected 25c or 3.7 per cent to $8.40; Scales Corp increased 9c or 2.79 per cent to $3.32; Napier Port rose 13c or 5.8 per cent to $2.37; and Skellerup added 6c to $4.46.

Other gainers were Allied Farmers increasing 3c or 3.9 per cent to 80c; Eroad up 4c or 5.41 per cent to 78c; and NZME rising 4c or 4.71 per cent to 89c.

Amongst the retailers, Briscoe was up 7c to $4.57, Hallenstein Glasson increased 16c or 2.58 per cent to $6.36; and KMD Brands gained 2c or 3.45 per cent to 60c.

Goodman Property Trust was up 0.005c to $2.285 after unit holders approved the internalisation process at a special meeting. The trust will now provide all the property management and development services instead of being managed by Australian-based Goodman Property Group.

The staff are transferring from the group to the trust and the group will receive a large payment in shares and increase its shareholding in the trust to 31.8 per cent.

Goodson said the Goodman trust is aiming to set up a pension fund and the need to do a capital raising for developments has diminished. One thought is the trust may move into data centre development, which is currently a hot investment area.

He said “our assessment is that the internalisation is relatively neutral in terms of value but the trust retains a strong relationship with the group and can leverage off the global developer”.

Fellow property stock Property for Industry was up 4c or 1.74 per cent to $2.335; and Precinct Properties was down 2.5c or 2.07 per cent to $1.185.

Ebos Group was down 28c to $34.30 on trade worth $17.02m; Mainfreight declined $1.17 to $68.82; Chorus fell 17c or 2.18 per cent to $7.62; Spark shed 7c to $4.79; Fletcher Building decreased 10c or 2.4 per cent to $4.07; and Serko was down 7c or 1.79 per cent to $3.85.

Other decliners were Restaurant Brands, shedding 10c or 2.94 per cent to $3.30; 2 Cheap Cars down 3c or 3.75 per cent to 77c; Carbon Fund falling 7c or 4.29 per cent to $1.56; Bremworth decreasing 2c or 4.08 per cent to 47c; and Metro Performance Glass down 0.007c or 6.42 per cent to 10.2c.

Third Age Health Services, up 2c to $1.67, will complete the 70 per cent purchase of Hub Aged Care, a Wellington elder primary care practice, on April 1.

Medicinal cannabis company Cannasouth went into a trading halt while it settled a dispute with some of its secured convertible note holders. Cannasouth said it has an urgent need to secure funding through an additional capital raise to remain solvent. The stock last traded at 9.8c.

Rua Bioscience, up 0.002c or 2.63 per cent to 7.8c, has signed an agreement with Portugal-based Cannprisma to conduct pre-commercial trials of Rua’s cannabis varieties and will send clones to Portugal.

Software firm TradeWindow, down 0.001c to 18.7c, has launched a $2.2m capital raising, first by a placement to investors at 17.5c a share and then through a share purchase plan for existing shareholders.

TradeWindow narrowed its full-year revenue guidance to $6.1m-$6.2m, compared with $4.9m for the 12 months ending March last year. The company is forecasting revenue of $7.3m-$8.3m for the year ending March 2025.

Shell company Ascension Capital will be renamed Being AI and resume trading following the reverse takeover on April 2, following shareholder approval.