The underlying loss was just $11.6m, with a reported profit of $191.6m due to property values.
Fletcher shares jumped 4.9% when the market opened this morning.
The family-owned seaweed processing company borrowed $750,000 to set up commercial production of its nanocellulose hydrogel.
Energy retailer Mercury was down but NZ's index still managed to end the day in the green ahead of the Reserve Bank of NZ's monetary policy announcement tomorrow.