"It's trading little below the bid price on reasonable volume. A number of businesses within New Zealand stand out as being attractive to corporates globally, and Tegel obviously resonates pretty well," said Shane Solly, director at Harbour Asset Management.
"Bounty being a Philippines-based organisation obviously it has to go through Overseas Investment Office, it's an interesting test of the new government's increased scrutiny."
Tegel saw $15m in turnover today, making it the fifth-most traded stock on the NZX All Capital Index.
Westpac led the benchmark lower, down 3.4 per cent to $30.05, while fellow Australian-owned bank ANZ dropped 1.9 per cent to $28.40. In Australia, the sector has come under fire over revelations made at a Royal Commission public inquiry into misconduct within the banking and finance industries. AMP rose 0.2 per cent to $4.34.
"They're really getting smashed, coming under some real pressure, that has been driven very much by the Royal Commission dredging up information," Solly said.
"There were some quite big downgrades in earnings forecasts for Westpac out overnight. For Westpac, the royal commission has raised some questions about the quality of its mortgage book, what people have actually gone through to provide lending that they perhaps shouldn't have."
Sky Network Television dropped 2.7 per cent to $2.20, while Pushpay Holdings fell 2 per cent to $4.02 and Ryman Healthcare declined 1.8 per cent to $10.41.
Auckland International Airport fell 0.3 per cent to $6.18. In an initial finding published this morning, the Commerce Commission said it is concerned the airport is planning to make excessive profits on its regulated assets, though the country's largest airport says it's optimistic it can convince the regulator that its plans to earn returns above a target benchmark will be successful.
The airport is arguing its risk profile has changed as it enters an extended period of major new capital developments, while the regulator said today that the company is targeting a return on its regulated asset base of 7.06 per cent over the period 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2022 against the commission's mid-point benchmark of 6.41 percent, meaning it could earn an extra $47m in profits after tax. A final decision will be published in September.
The best performer was Gentrack Group, which rose 3.6 per cent to $6.84.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp gained 1.9 per cent to $12.43.
"We're seeing a bit of strength in Fisher & Paykel - they had some recent positive releases with research about COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma] and using their humidifier so that's the basis for many people, including ourselves, to think positive in the long term on Fisher & Paykel. You've certainly seen a bit of a bounce there," Solly said.
Mainfreight gained 1.8 per cent to $24.22, TradeMe Group rose 1.6 per cent to $4.54, and Skycity Entertainment Group advanced 1.3 per cent to $3.99.
On the ASX at 5:15pm New Zealand time, Christchurch-based CropLogic was unchanged at 6 Australian cents. Its managing director Jamie Cairns has resigned with immediate effect, with the company's chief financial officer James Cooper-Jones appointed as acting chief executive.
ASX-listed Volpara Health Technologies is in a trading halt at 69 Australian cents while the Kiwi digital health firm raises capital from institutional investors ahead of next week's quarterly cash flow report.
