MARKET CLOSE NZ shares mixed; Chorus, Sky TV fall, Kiwi Income, Ryman gain

New Zealand shares were mixed, with the NZX 50 Index slipping as Chorus and Sky Network Television fell, while Kiwi Income Property Group and Ryman Healthcare gained.

The NZX 50 fell 6.504 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4915.668. Within the index, 25 stocks fell, 23 rose and two were unchanged. Turnover was $170 million.

Chorus, whose earnings path now hangs on the government's response to plans by the regulator to cut its prices, dropped 2.2 percent to $2.01. Telecom, one of the phone companies that stands to benefit from lower Chorus pricing, gained 0.7 percent to $2.335.

Kiwi Income rose 2.3 percent to $1.135 on optimism its proposal to internalise its management contract at a cost of some $70 million will lift earnings, reduce costs and ultimately be good for unitholders.

"They're pretty meaningful cost savings. It is quite accretive to earnings and it does make sense for unitholders," said David Lewis, an analyst at Milford Asset Management. "The price is fair, we would not call it cheap, but we feel the internal structure provides better alignment with unitholders."

SkyCity Entertainment Group rose 1.3 percent to $3.91, having tumbled from as much as $4.23 last month. The Auckland-based casino and hotel group is set to fall out of the benchmark global MSCI indexes and be replaced by Ryman Healthcare.

Ryman, the biggest retirement village operator on the exchange, rose 0.5 percent to $7.90. Rival Summerset Group rose 0.3 percent to $3.36 and Metlifecare fell 2.5 percent to $4.36.

Vector, the gas, electricity and telecommunications lines company, fell 2.7 percent to $2.53. The company said in a submission on the application of Telecom and Vodafone to buy more 4G spectrum that it opposes antitrust approval being given to dominant mobile phone operators Telecom and Vodafone New Zealand to buy more.

Infratil rose 0.6 percent to $2.475 after lifting its first-half dividend to 3.75 cents a share from 3.25 cents a year earlier, as the proceeds from the selldown of Z Energy swelled its coffers and helped the company return to profit.

Mainfreight, the global transport and logistics group, gained 2.1 percent to $11.75 after posting a 51 percent jump in first-half profit, thanks to a settlement from the former owners of the Wim Bosman group and improved earnings from Asia and Australasia.

A2 Corp rose 4.2 percent to 75 cents, the biggest gain on the NZX 50.

Fletcher Building slipped 0.3 percent to $9.45.

Sky TV fell 1.7 percent to $6.28.

"There's a number of international investors in the US and Australia looking at Sky TV on a yield and safety basis," said Mark Warminger, portfolio manager at Milford Asset Management. "They've been coming to the conclusion it was cheap." Still, after climbing to an all-time high "the stock now looks expensive."

(BusinessDesk)