MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares rise; Ryman, Port of Tauranga end week at record high
April 12 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand stocks rose, pushing the NZX 50 Index to a record, as retirement village operator
Ryman Healthcare and Port of Tauranga charted new highs.
The NZX 50 rose 26.23 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,435.76, the highest since the inception of the gross index in 2003.
Within the index, 27 stocks rose, 16 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $122 million.
Ryman, a perennial market darling because of its unbroken profit growth, gained 1.8 percent to $5.20 and has climbed 62
percent in the past 12 months.
“More and more people like the growth story Ryman is bringing,” said Grant Williamson, director at Hamilton Hindin
Greene. “The darling of the market just continues to gain traction.”
Rival rest home company Summerset Group gained 0.7 percent to $2.74 and Metlifecare rose 1.6 percent to $3.22.
Port of Tauranga, the nation’s busiest export port, gained 2.1 percent to $14.50, a record close.
“You can see what happens when you have the right management,” Williamson said. As a major export port, the high kiwi
dollar may loom as a threat to volumes though that’s offset by high commodity prices, he said.
Bathurst Resources tumbled 19 percent to 26 cents after Royal New Zealand Forest & Bird Society and West Coast Environmental Network made an appeal against the mining company’s consent for its
Escarpment open-cut mine.
Fletcher Building, the biggest company on the benchmark index, rose 0.7 percent to $8.66. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which gets more than 50 percent of its sales in US dollars, rose 0.4 percent to $2.43.
Contact Energy, the biggest power company on the bourse, gained 2.5 percent to $5.81.
Williamson said interest in Contact has been heightened since offer documents for MightyRiverPower’s share sale were
released, showing the listed company “compared quite favourably on multiples” with MRP.
Hallenstein Glasson Holdings, the clothing chain, fell 1.2 percent to $5.66. Warehouse Group, the biggest retailer on
the NZX 50, rose 0.8 percent to $3.76.
Among manufacturers, Skellerup gained 4.4 percent to $1.43 and Nuplex Industries gained 0.3 percent to $3.25. Methven,
the tapware maker, gained 2.6 percent to $1.20.
SkyCity Entertainment Group gained 2.2 percent to $4.26.
(BusinessDesk)