Port of Tauranga, Fletcher lead stocks higher

Retirement village operators at record highs amid strong interest

New Zealand shares rose, led by Port of Tauranga, the commodity port benefiting from dairy and logs. Fletcher Building rebounded, while retirement home operators Ryman Healthcare and Summerset Group were at record closes.

The NZX 50 rose 2.8 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4432.97. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 13 fell and 16 were unchanged. Turnover was $ 94.8 million.

Port of Tauranga rose 3.2 per cent to $ 14.40. The company gained clearance to dredge and deepen its facilities at Tauranga in March, which will ultimately allow for larger ship sizes to carry the logs, dairy products and containers across its wharves.

‘‘ Investors have asked, how do you get exposure to dairy? That’s one of the ways,’’ said James Smalley, client adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene.

Logs over the wharves also stoke activity.

Fletcher, the biggest company on the NZX 50, gained 1.9 per cent to $ 8.76 as it extended its climb off re- cent lows. Smalley said the company has to find earnings growth in Australia, which has been ‘‘ a millstone around its neck’’.

Ryman, the retirement village operator, rose about 1 per cent to $ 5.14, a record closing high. Rival

Summerset Group reached its high on Thursday and held at $ 2.74 yesterday.

‘‘ It’s a sector that’s got a lot of inter- est at the moment,’’ Smalley said.

Shares in Telecom fell 2.4 per cent to $ 2.41 after the country’s biggest phone company said it would stick with Yahoo as an email service provider after a major review following widespread hacking of its customers.

Xero, the cloud- based accounting software maker, fell 1.5 per cent to $ 11.15 after it said its annual loss will be south of $ 15 million, with sales doubling to $ 39 million in the 12 months ended March 31. Power companies Contact En

ergy and TrustPower gained 0.7 per cent to $ 5.49 and 0.5 per cent to $ 7.80 respectively after state- owned rival Mighty River Power published its prospectus for a partial float at an indicative price range of between $ 2.35 and $ 2.80 a share. ‘‘ Investors are seeing the multiples they are pricing MRP at and thinking Contact looks pretty good,’’ Smalley said.

Stocks offering decent dividend yields also gained. Property for Industry rose 2.7 per cent to $ 1.35, Goodman Property Trust rose 1.9 per cent to $ 1.08, Precinct Properties rose 1 per cent to $ 1.05 and Kiwi Income Property Trust rose 0.9 per cent to $ 1.17.