MARKET CLOSE: Shares fall ahead of earnings; Nuplex, Auckland Airport, Summerset down

New Zealand shares edged lower as investors waited for reporting season to get under way. Auckland International Airport and Nuplex Industries fell.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index declined 3.64 points, or 0.1%, to 5865.02. Within the index, 17 stocks fell, 23 rose and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $127 million.

Reporting season on the local bourse gets under way tomorrow, with investors looking for profit growth, which justifies gains in share prices. Auckland Airport, the nation's busiest gateway, declined 3.1% to $5.245. Nuplex, the specialty chemical maker due to report on Friday, fell 1.6% to $4.32. Summerset Group Holdings, the retirement village operator which will report tomorrow, retreated 1% to $4.13. Steel & Tube Holdings, the steel manufacturer which is reporting its financial statements on Friday, slipped 1.4% to $2.78.

"There's a little bit of nervous apprehension going into it," Ricky Ward, head of NZ equities at JB Were New Zealand said. "You've got companies trading on pretty high multiples. We all know why they are trading there but you do need earnings to come through and justify that."

Contact Energy rose 0.8% to $5.19. Origin sold its controlling stake in Contact for $4.65 a share last week, vastly boosting the liquidity and market weighting of the stock. Genesis Energy rose 1.2% to $1.70. Meridian Energy was unchanged at $2.285. Mighty River Power advanced 1.1% to $2.69.

Fonterra Shareholders' Fund, whose units are entitled to the dividends from Fonterra's ordinary shares, rose 0.4% to $4.92. Last week the dairy company cut its farmgate milk payout forecast as expected, while offering financial support to its farmers and flagging a higher dividend.

"It was a clear upgrade," Mr Ward said. "It's good for the unit holders, and it's not only bad for the farmers, in the sense they're offering a 50% interest free loan to help get them through some difficult times. The main thing was their guidance was certainly better than what the market was expecting."

Kathmandu Holdings was unchanged at $1.74. The outdoor clothing and equipment chain, the subject of a hostile takeover from Briscoe Group, said chief operating officer and finance director Mark Todd resigned. Mr Todd, who joined the company in 1998, was acting chief executive through most of the 2015 financial year pending the arrival of new chief executive Xavier Simonet on June 29.

"He was only acting CEO and he had no real great aspirations of being CEO in that he'd been there a while," Ward said. "The timing might not be ideal, it might be viewed a little bit negatively by some but I think he telegraphed to the market pretty well that he'd moved into another role and he was helping it transition more than anything else."

Metro Performance Glass led the benchmark index lower, down 4.5% to $1.48.

Pacific Edge, the biotech firm, was the best performer on the day, up 5% to 63c.

Outside the benchmark index, Vista Group International fell 0.2 percent to $5.99. The cinema software and analytics firm has rejigged its executive structure, appointing Kimbal Riley to head up its Vista Entertainment Solutions business.

(BusinessDesk)