Shares fall as Gentrack feels Brexit impact
New Zealand shares fell from a record in quiet trading. Gentrack led the declines as investors fretted over the Brexit implications for the UK exposed utilities software developer.
The S&P/NZX 50 Index decreased 17.85 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 9497.27. Within the index, 23 stocks fell, 18 gained and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $104.9 million.
Gentrack fell 4.2 per cent to $4.60 on a volume of 22,000 shares, less than a third of its usual volume. The stock is down 8.7 per cent so far this year, with investors unnerved by what impact Brexit will have on the firm, which derives about 40 per cent of its sales in the UK.
“It’s mainly about Brexit for that stock — no one’s 100 per cent sure what’s going to happen there,” said Peter McIntyre, an investment adviser at Craigs Investment Partners.
Fletcher Building fell 1.9 per cent to $4.74 on a volume of 1.5 million, compared to its 90-day average of 1.8 million.
McIntyre said news that private civil construction firm Fulton Hogan’s first-half earnings fell on challenging Australian projects and softness in New Zealand added to the growing nervousness among investors about the building sector. Metro Performance Glass, which is outside the benchmark index, fell 2.1 per cent to 47 cents after downgrading its earnings guidance, citing a weak Australian market.
Vector posted the biggest gain on the benchmark index, up 2.3 per cent at $3.54 on lighter volume than usual of 101,000.
Auckland International Airport slipped from a record close, down 0.2 per cent at $7.975 on a volume of 678,000. Chorus fell 0.7 per cent to $5.77. New Zealand Refining rose 2.1 per cent to $1.97 after reporting a recovery in regional margins which had been negative for much of January and February. Mainfreight gained 1.1 per cent to a record $34.50, on a volume of 82,000, more than twice its three-monthly average.
Spark New Zealand was the most traded stock at 3.1 million shares. The shares declined 0.6 per cent to $3.625.
Contact Energy increased 0.5 per cent to $6.50 on a volume of 1.8 million shares and Sky Network
Television fell 0.7 per cent to $1.42 on a volume of 1.4 million.
Of other companies trading on volumes of more than a million shares, Trade Me Group was unchanged at $6.40, Z Energy was unchanged at $6.28 and Meridian Energy increased 1 per cent to $3.93.
Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units rose 0.7 per cent to $4.38 and Synlait Milk was up 0.8 per cent at $11.29. A2 Milk fell 0.9 per cent to $13.70.
Outside the NZX50, The Warehouse Group rose 1.9 per cent to $2.12 after reporting a 5.7 per cent increase in underlying first-half earnings.