New Zealand company earnings continued at pace today as Air NZ, casino operator SkyCity Entertainment and television network Sky TV were amongst those that reported mixed results.
The S&P/NZX 50 index rose 28.1 points, or 0.24%, to 11,627.14. Turnover on the main board was $129.4 million.
Grant Williamson, a director at Hamilton Hindin Greene said NZ’s market had a flat performance today and remained relatively unchanged.
“We've seen a little bit of strength in the offshore markets, but none of that has flowed through to NZ,” he said.
Air NZ said it had been “a year of ongoing twists and turns” in which it recapitalised its business, recorded a stronger than expected return of demand and managed rising costs.
The company’s operating earnings, which exclude depreciation and amortisation, dropped to a $4m loss from a $334m profit last year. Operating revenue rose 8% to $2.7 billion.
Williamson said Air NZ’s earnings weren't a surprise as Australian airline Qantas had also delivered a “shocker” of a result and it had been an extremely difficult period for the aviation sector.
The company’s shares fell 1.4% to 66.5 cents today.
Sky TV shares jumped 6.2% after the company announced it had joined the ranks of companies set to pay back shareholders, with the board approving both a dividend and a share buyback amid strong results in the June 2022 financial year.
Sky TV ended the June financial year with an adjusted net profit of $49.2m, up 12% from the year before, out of a reported net profit of $62.2m, up 41%.
The shares ended the day up 1.2% to $2.62.
A tough year dealing with the impacts of covid-19 weighed on SkyCity Entertainment’s earnings but the casino operator said it expects FY23 to be easier to deal with from a covid perspective.
The dual-listed company which operates casinos across five venues in both countries, posted a net loss of $33.6m in the 12 months to June 30, turning around a profit of $155.8m the year before.
SkyCity shares were down 1.4% to $2.92 by the end of the day.
Honey manufacturer Comvita was up 2.7% to $3.39 after it lifted net profit 35% and achieved its second-best earnings. The company said its net profit was $12.8m in the year to June 30, up 35% from the previous year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were up 18% to $30.1m.
Fonterra told shareholders this afternoon it had created a startup with a Dutch multinational to work on commercialising non-cow dairy proteins. Fonterra Shareholders' Fund Units were down 1.3% to $3.09 by early evening.
A2 Milk was up 1.1% to $5.42 and Synlait Milk rose 0.3% to $3.34.
Telecommunications company Spark was down 0.37% to $5.35 today, even though the telco reported a positive full-year result yesterday, with its board approving the biggest dividend increase in seven years and the promise of more to come.
Healthcare wholesaler Ebos Group fell 0.8% to $38.21. Williamson said Ebos had come out with a good result yesterday but there was uncertainty around how long its good fortune would last which is why the shares were down today.
Devon Funds head of retail Greg Smith said in a note this morning that the Jackson Hole Symposium in Kansas has kicked off with the pinnacle of the three-day meeting being a speech by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell given on Friday morning US time.
Markets are waiting anxiously to hear if Powell will provide any clues about the Fed’s future rate hike path and how aggressive it will be.
Today, the NZ dollar was sitting at 62.05 US cents at 3pm today, up from 61.88 US cents yesterday.
