WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares fell, led lower by Trade Me Group and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp while Warehouse Group gained. The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 27.33 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,067.05. Within the index, 23 stocks fell, 18 rose and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $129 million. “We’re on the cusp of reporting season, it really gets going next week so given the New Zealand market has had a pretty strong start to the year, it’s probably a bit of caution creeping in,” said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners. “People will want to see evidence of these companies living up to what their share prices are suggesting they should deliver, the good performance we’ve seen over the past five or six weeks probably sets the bar a bit higher, so maybe there’s a bit of positioning.”
Trade Me led the index lower, down 4.1 per cent to $4.95. The online marketplace said it would provide buyers with refunds if goods bought using its platform weren’t as described or didn’t show up. “Maybe that’s driving a bit of weakness in the stock – it’s obviously good for their customers, but it potentially could add to their costs if they’re obliged to provide refunds when trades go wrong,” Mr Lister said. “I suspect that might be weighing on the share price a little, they’ve had a good run of late so not surprising they’ve had a bit of weakness.” Fisher & Paykel dropped 2.6 per cent to $8.77, Xero fell 1.6 per cent to $19, and Ebos declined 1.1 per cent to $17.30. Spark New Zealand was unchanged at $3.58, while TeamTalk jumped 66.7 per cent to 75 cents. The ailing minnow network has attracted a $22.7m takeover from Spark at 80 cents per share, a premium to the 45 cents price the stock traded at prior to the announcement. The deal would bundle fibre in Wellington and a wireless rural internet service provider into the country’s biggest telecommunications company.
Warehouse Group was the best performer, up 2.3 per cent to $2.65. Vector gained 1.9 per cent to $3.29 and Restaurant Brands rose 1.9 per cent to $5.49. Kathmandu Holdings gained 1.1 per cent to $1.92. The Christchurch-based outdoor equipment chain said first-half profit was slightly higher from a year earlier at $9.9m, partly bolstered by solid same-store sales growth. Contact Energy rose 0.2 per cent to $4.79. It plans to sell $75 of unsecured, unsubordinated five-year bonds to institutional and retail investors, with oversubscriptions of up to $25m.
