MARKET CLOSE: NZ shares rise, led by F&P Healthcare, Sky TV; Ebos falls

New Zealand shares rose, led by Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Sky Network Television, while Ebos and Metro Performance Glass fell.

The S&P/NZSX 50 index added 7.1 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7441.57. Within the index, 20 stocks gained, 22 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was $134 million.

Other Asian markets did not fare as well. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 down 0.6 percent and Japan's Topix down 0.3 percent after oil prices tumbled 5 percent when an agreement by OPEC to extend existing supply curbs disappointed investors wagering on larger cuts. On the NZX 50, New Zealand Oil and Gas was unchanged at 64 cents.

F&P Healthcare led the market higher, added 2.2 percent to $10.61. Early this week the medical device maker posted an 18 percent gain in full-year profit, meeting its guidance amid record annual sale.

"Investors have started to look for a few of the good growth stories" in the New Zealand market, said Hamilton Hindin Greene broker Grant Williamson.

Sky TV added 1.2 percent to $3.53. Sky TV and Vodafone New Zealand this week detailed their appeal against the Commerce Commission's decision blocking their merger, arguing the regulator was mistaken to find the combined group would substantially lessen competition, and the ruling should be reversed.

In another merger case, NZME and Fairfax New Zealand said Friday they will file papers in the High Court claiming the regulator was wrong in fact and in law in rejecting their planned merger. NZME shares rose 2.6 percent to 80 cents after the news.

Small cap Future Mobility Systems added 9.1 percent to 18 cents after it posted a 24 percent gain in annual profit and said plans to seek a listing on an overseas market are now well advanced. Future Mobility is the renamed amphibious boat maker Sealegs, changing its name and NZX stock ticker in January.

In the other direction, Ebos shed 1.8 percent to $17.65 on some profit taking after it gained ground on news it entered an agreement to acquire HPS, Australia's largest provider of outsourced pharmacy services to hospitals, for A$154 million.

Metro Performance Glass shed 1.4 percent to $1.39. On Thursday, it delivered a $19.4 million net profit for the year to March 31, down from $21.3 million a year earlier. Dual listed Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ended down 1.4 percent at $29.95 while Westpac Banking Group lost 0.9 percent to $32.25.

Trilogy International fell 1.3 percent to $2.27. The company posted a 19 percent gain in annual pretax earnings, meeting guidance, reflecting a full 12-month contribution from distributor CS & Co and stronger sales of its Trilogy beauty products, which offset the impact of higher raw material costs.

Contract labour firm AWF Madison Group fell 0.3 percent to $2.92 a despite a 13 percent increase in annual profit in an increasingly tight labour market.

Z Energy ended down 1.4 percent at $7.67 while Sanford lost 0.7 percent to $7.05 after gaining Thursday on the back of a 25 percent increase in first-half profit.

(BusinessDesk)