Skellerup chief quits as executive resignations spook NZX investors – Market close

Skellerup shares fell 31c or 6.46 per cent to $4.49 after its CEO of 13 years announced he was stepping down.

The New Zealand sharemarket doesn’t like unexpected surprises and it got another one with the resignation of long-time Skellerup Holdings chief executive David Mair.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell for the sixth day running and closed at 11,640.04, down 21.28 points or 0.18 per cent. The index has now fallen nearly 1.3 per cent for the year.

There were 66 gainers and 73 decliners on the main board with 35.76 million shares worth $121.08m changing hands.

Mair’s resignation followed Fletcher Building’s chief executive Ross Taylor and chairman Bruce Hassall quitting the day before.

David McConnochie, investment adviser with Forsyth Barr, said the market hasn’t taken these resignations “overly well. Mair has provided steady hands over the last decade or so and he reflects a key person risk around governance and long-term performance.”

He said Skellerup produced a flat half-year result with its industrial division up strongly but the market looked through that to Mair’s standing down.

Skellerup fell 31c or 6.46 per cent to $4.49 after reporting a 5 per cent decline in revenue to $157.73 and a 6 per cent drop in net profit to $21.61m for the six months ending December. It is paying an interim dividend of 8.5c a share on March 14.

Skellerup said its industrial division had record earnings before interest (ebit) of $22.9m, up 7 per cent, and the agriculture division was down 19 per cent to $11.9m. Full-year net profit is expected to be similar to last year’s record $50.9m.

“Our business remains robust, and we expect some of the first half headwinds of customers reducing inventory used in dairy and leisure applications will abate,” said Skellerup.

Mair is stepping down at the end of next month after 13 years in the chief executive’s role and is being replaced by the chief financial officer Graham Leaming. Mair will stay on as a director and co-lead an in-market capabilities project.

Vital Healthcare Property Trust was down 1c to $2.13 after reporting steady revenue of $72.4m for the six months ending December and a net loss of $113.12m driven by a $161.19m reduction in the value of its $3.2 billion portfolio.

Vital Healthcare has gearing of 38.3 per cent, occupancy of 98.2 per cent and is paying an interim dividend of 2.4c a share on March 21. The property trust, which has sold $220m worth of assets, is spending $170m on nine developments over the next 12 months, including the completion of Wellington Wakefield Hospital and Auckland Ormiston Hospital.

Fletcher Building fell a further 26c or 7.2 per cent to $3.35 on trade worth $27.54m following its tough half-year financial result.

Meridian Energy declined 6c to $5.60; Ebos Group decreased 17c to $36.74; a2 Milk was down 8c to $5.43; Seeka gave up 6c or 2.27 per cent to $2.58; and Winton Land shed 6c or 2.46 per cent to $2.38.

Auckland International Airport, up 1c to $8.16, told the market total passenger volumes increased 20 per cent to 1.71m in January compared with the same month last year. International passengers rose 28 per cent to 1.019m, the best since January 2020.

In the retail sector, Hallenstein Glasson was down 14c or 2.48 per cent to $5.51; Michael Hill decreased 3c or 3.41 per cent to 85c; and KMD Brands declined 2c or 3.17 per cent to 61c.

PGG Wrightson fell 18c or 5.64 per cent to $3.01; T&G Global gave up 6c or 3.21 per cent to $1.81; ikeGPS declined 3c or 5.56 per cent to 51c; Cooks Coffee was down 1.5c or 5 per cent to 28.5 per cent; and Eroad decreased 4c or 4.55 per cent to 84c.

Gentrack increased 5c to $7.37 and has risen 164 per cent over the past 12 months. Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was up 30c to $24.10; Serko collected 10c or 2.44 per cent to $4.20; Argosy Property added 2.5c or 2.26 per cent to $1.13; and Chatham Rock Phosphate gained 0.006c or 5.04 per cent to 12.5c.

New Zealand Oil & Gas, up 0.005c to 37.5c, has increased its interest in the Northern Territory Mereenie oil and gas field to 50 per cent after buying Macquarie Mereenie’s 25 per cent stake for A$42.5m ($45.25m). The acquisition will double NZOG’s reserve and production from the Mereenie field.

Rua Bioscience, unchanged at 9.8c, is taking legal action against Cannoperations Pty for breach of contractual rights to exclusively sell its medical cannabis products in Australia.