Port of Tauranga will today cap off the latest reporting season with its annual result. Photo / NZME
The New Zealand reporting season draws to a close today, leaving analysts with plenty to digest as the economy continues to struggle.
Port of Tauranga (POT), perhaps the most telling result because of the insight it offers on the state of the economy, is due out this morning.
Forsyth Barr expects the company to report a strong result, driven by a combination of container volume growth, pricing initiatives and cost efficiencies.
“Our 2025 underlying net profit forecast of $124 million (up 22% on the prior year) is at the top end of management’s $115m–$125m guidance range,” Forsyth Barr said.
“Pricing gains included a doubling of its container infrastructure levy and material increases in unit bulk charges..
“With Port of Auckland continuing to significantly lift its pricing, POT has scope for further container pricing, which is likely to be its key lever to improving returns over the medium term.”
In terms of the broader sharemarket, many of the big names – including the major power companies – have reported their June year results.
Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister is taking more positives than negatives from the latest round.
“If you compare this season with how the February reporting season looked, then this one is far, far better,” Lister said.
“It hasn’t shot the lights out in terms of strong earnings, but you haven’t seen anywhere near the number of downgrades or disappointments or really bleak outlook statements.
“It’s actually been a fairly solid reporting season with some good results and some decent outlook statements.”
In the disappointing category was Ebos, which this week reported a 20.8% drop in its net profit to A$215m ($239m).
However, equities research firm Morningstar is taking a positive view on Ebos, a medical supplies and animal care firm with a big weighting on the S&P/NZX 50 Index.
“We maintain our A$39 fair value estimate for narrow-moat Ebos, or $32 at current exchange rates.
“The impact of lower earnings in the short term is not material enough to move our fair value.”
Ebos lost its Chemist Warehouse contract in June 2024 but the company said pharmacy sales were up 16%.
It also won A$540m in annual revenue from new customers, or 8% of segment sales.
“Pharmacy gross margins also rose 40 basis points, suggesting Ebos is maintaining a level of pricing power,” Morningstar said.
Casino operator SkyCity’s net profit slumped by 42% to $71.5m, necessitating a $240m capital raise.
CEO Jason Walbridge said the results reflected the difficult operating environment the company navigated in 2025.
Construction, to the surprise of no one, struggled, with sharp earnings declines from Fletcher Building (net loss $419m), Steel and Tube (net loss $24.4m) and Vulcan Steel (net profit down 60.6%).
Also on the downside was Air NZ’s result, which showed its net profit before tax dropped almost 20% to $189m, although it was towards the top end of the $150m-$190m guidance range given at its April trading update.
The result included $35m of Covid credit breakage and $129m of engine compensation, broadly in line with previous guidance.
Among the power companies, Mercury reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and financial instruments (ebitdaf) of $786m, down $91m from the prior year, but forecast ebitdaf of $1 billion for the current year.
Genesis Energy’s ebitdaf came to $470m, $10m ahead of its own guidance, and up 14% on the previous year’s.
Meridian Energy said its ebitdaf dropped to $611m from $905m a year earlier and was the lowest in a decade.
Contact Energy’s underlying net profit was up 13% at $261m and ebitdaf rose 17% to $774m.
All four, which were all influenced in some way by last year’s gas shortage and poor hydro conditions, will be anxiously waiting the Government’s review of the power sector, on which it has enlisted Australia’s Frontier Economics to assist.
The review is due in late September.
On the plus side was a2 Milk’s net profit (up 21.1%) and its plan to buy Yashili’s factory at Pōkeno.
Fonterra does not report until September but nevertheless became a market standout because of the successful sale of its Mainland businesses to Lactalis for $4.22b.
Sticking with the positive, Chorus returned to profit , Freightways posted a 12.9% lift in net profit, and Scales reported a 51% increase in its first-half net profit.
As Lister sees it, there was more good than bad.
“Importantly, the outlook commentaries about what’s coming have been much more upbeat than we saw six months ago.
“And we’ve got a Reserve Bank that has committed essentially to taking the Official Cash Rate down to 2.5%, which will make a material difference to household budgets and sentiment over the next six months.
“I think we’re in a much better place today than we were back in the February reporting season.
“It’s telling us that the economy has stabilised and that it’s past the worst and that from here a recovery is in sight.”
The previous reporting season was clouded by international uncertainty around tariffs and businesses were reluctant to commit to anything, Lister said.
“I know we’ve been sort of waiting for this for a couple of years now, but I think we have turned a corner.”
Brokers Forsyth Barr said the idea Sky TV has done its dash has been greatly exaggerated.
The past decade for Sky TV (SKT) can be summarised by two very different periods, Forsyth Barr said.
From financial year 2015–FY20, SKT’s underlying earnings declined by about 5%, and from FY20–FY25 it has been, in broad terms, largely stable.
“Our key takeaway from its FY25 result, announced NZ Rugby deal and recently announced Discovery NZ acquisition, is that SKT is likely to, at the very least, maintain its current earnings power and cash flow over the medium term,” Forsyth Barr said.
“The NZ Rugby deal was in itself crucial for SKT to get right – we believe it did.
“More broadly, it is an indication that long-term content costs are not detached from revenues.”
The strong growth in Sky Sports Now did not fully offset the continued decline in Sky Box revenues, and is not expected to in FY26 or FY27, but it is getting closer.
“We expect SKT will continue to be able to extract a margin as a sport content aggregator in NZ,” Forsyth Barr said.
“The margin will not return to where it once was, but the reports of SKT’s death have been greatly exaggerated.”
Alvarium (NZ) Wealth Management Holdings, parent company of Alvarium Wealth and Pathfinder Asset Management, has bought Salt Funds Management for an undisclosed sum.
The transaction increases Alvarium’s total assets under advice to more than $4.3b.
Alvarium said it was a strategic acquisition to expand its investment platform capabilities.
“The acquisition enhances the firm’s existing service architecture and expands its product suite to deliver greater investment diversification and client optionality,” Alvarium said.
“Salt has built an exceptional reputation as an active fund manager with robust investment processes and successful track record of style-agnostic investing,” Alvarium Wealth chairman Shane Edmond said.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.