NZ stocks fell as Sky Network Television extended its slide after last week's earnings downgrade and Air New Zealand fell after agreeing to settle a cartel lawsuit in the US. Photo / Mark Mitchell
New Zealand stocks fell as Sky Network Television extended its slide after last week's earnings downgrade and Air New Zealand fell after agreeing to settle a cartel lawsuit in the US.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 13.04 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6885.06. Within the index, 28 stocks fell,
14 rose and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $136.7 million.
Sky Network Television was the worst performer, falling 7.1 per cent to $4.30 - a two-month low. On Friday, the shares sank 15.7 per cent after the pay-TV operator said subscriber numbers were expected to fall further this financial year, causing earnings next year to miss analyst estimates.
The Auckland-based company forecast it would have 830,000 subscribers at the end of its financial year on June 30. Subscriber numbers dropped 1.5 per cent last year to 851,561. It expects to lose 45,000 core residential pay-TV subscribers this year and gain about 25,000 subscribers for its online services such as Neon and FanPass.
"The subscriber numbers have really given them a kick in the guts," said James Smalley, director at Hamilton Hindin Greene. "There were a few institutional investor roadshows and I think Australian investors bought in. It just goes to show how institutional investors buying in can sometimes push a stock way higher than it should be on its fundamentals."
