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MARKET CLOSE: Shares fall; Orion slides to record low, Spark, MRP decline

NZX 50 Index fell 58.241 points, or 1%, to 5803.865.

Suze Metherell
Wed, 10 Jun 2015

New Zealand shares fell after Orion Health said an expected US-based contract has been delayed. Spark New Zealand, MightyRiverPower and Contact Energy declined.

The NZX 50 Index fell 58.241 points, or 1%, to 5803.865. Within the index, 38 stocks fell, seven rose and five were unchanged. Turnover was $136 million.

Orion slid 9.7% to a record low of $4 after the health and management software system company said a contract with one of its US payer customers has been delayed for 12 months because the customer wants "to focus on more immediate priorities" but Orion didn't see the need to revise its forecasts for 2016. It comes after the company said on January 30 that delays in settling contracts and paying bills in North America would weigh on revenue in the second half of its financial year.

"It's the nature of this business that they've got some very exciting opportunities over the medium term and getting the timing on some of those growth contracts is difficult," said Shane Solly, director at Harbour Asset Management. "That doesn't necessarily destroy the value of the business but the timing was not as expected. The nature of the business means contracts are difficult to get timing on but some people have been disappointed by that."

Offshore bonds fell, pushing yields higher, which weighed on the local bourse, which is held by international investors for its relatively high yield, Mr Solly said. Contact fell 3.9% to $5.28. MRP declined 2.6% to $2.66. Spark dropped 1% to $2.85. Meridian Energy decreased 2.5% to $2.165.

"MightyRiver, Contact and Spark are certainly influenced by bond yields going up and these stocks do reflect that," Mr Solly said.

Air New Zealand dropped 5% to a month low of $2.67.

Infratil, the Wellington-based infrastructure investor, fell 0.3% to $3.22. UK investment house Utilico Investments has continued to reduce its stake in Infratil, raising $7.9 million in an on-market selldown this month.

Of the day's few gainers, Skellerup Holdings, the industrial rubber goods maker, was the day's best performer, up 1.5% to $1.37. Coats Group, the threadmaker, advanced 0.9% to 56c. Fletcher Building, the building supplies and construction firm, gained 0.4% to $8.41.

(BusinessDesk)

Suze Metherell
Wed, 10 Jun 2015
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MARKET CLOSE: Shares fall; Orion slides to record low, Spark, MRP decline
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