Market close: shares mixed - F&P Healthcare benefits from weak kiwi, AMP drops

New Zealand shares were mixed, leaving the NZX 50 Index little changed, as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare continued to benefit from a weaker kiwi dollar and AMP issued a profit warning.

The NZX 50 rose 0.975 points, or 0.02 percent, to 4364.045. Within the index, 25 stocks rose, 23 fell and two were unchanged. Turnover was $93.9 million.

F&P Healthcare, which gets more than 50 percent of sales in US dollars, rose 2.4 percent to $3.49 as the kiwi traded near its lowest levels in a year. Last month, the company posted 2013 earnings that beat its own guidance and said 2014 profit would beat estimates. Since then the kiwi has fallen about 5 percent.

"It's obviously very sensitive to movements in the currency," says David Price, a broker at Forsyth Barr. Investors are now pondering whether fundamentally there has been a shift in US dollar demand.

Xero, the cloud-based accounting company chasing sales growth at the expense of profits, rose 3.2 percent to a record-high close of $16.30, valuing the company at $1.85 billion. The shares have soared 242 percent in the past 12 months.

A2 Corp, which markets milk with a protein variant said to have health benefits, rose 1.6 percent to 62 cents.

Synlait Milk, which produces dairy products for A2 under licence, today released a prospectus for a $75 million sale of new shares that projects strong sales and earnings growth in the next two years.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand, the fast-food company, rose 1.1 percent to $2.73 ahead of its annual meeting in Wellington this week.

AMP, the Australian wealth manager, tumbled 9.4 percent to $5.30 after saying first-half earnings may fall as much as 16 percent after its Australian wealth protection business struggled in the second quarter.

"This reflects the ongoing volatile nature of experience across AMP's insurance portfolio, which has in-force premiums of more than $A1.7 billion," the company says. "The industry is experiencing increased pressure on insurance claims and policy lapses."

OceanaGold, operator of the Macraes gold field, fell 5.2 percent to $1.45, extending its slide as the price of the metal sinks. The company said last month it is reviewing mining operations at Reefton amid the falling gold price.

Sky Network Television fell 2.4 percent to $4.96. The shares have tumbled about 15 percent this month as investors digest the implications of the emergence of a new online rival that has bought the rights to English Premier League football.

"Currently, the Commerce Commission is doing a review of Sky and this probably could not have come at a better time," Mr Price says.

TrustPower fell 0.6 percent to $7.10. The power company plans to ask shareholders to approve a 6.8 percent increase in directors' fees.

Property for Industry fell 0.7 percent to $1.35 after shareholders approved its Direct Property Fund merger.

Fletcher Building rose 0.7 percent to $8.16 and Telecom fell 1.3 percent to $2.24.

(BusinessDesk)