NZ shares gain on Ebos, Meridian earnings

New Zealand stocks rose as the positive news in the current earnings season caught the attention of investors.

New Zealand stocks rose as Ebos Group and Meridian Energy met profit guidance.

The NZX 50 Index rose 19.045 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 4914.142. Within the index, 25 stocks rose, 17 fell and eight were unchanged. Turnover was worth $152 million.

Ebos shares rose 2.6 per cent to $9.95, paring an earlier gain to $10.05 as investors digested its first-half results.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $96.2m, were below the $103.6m the company used in its prospectus, while net profit of $49.4m beat its forecast $48.7m.

"They restated their numbers for the currency movements and missed slightly at the EBITDA level, although they got there at the net profit level," said Matthew Goodson, managing director at Salt Funds Management.

Meridian Energy rose 0.5 per cent to $1.04 after the partially privatised energy company beat its prospectus forecast by 28 per cent.

"That whole energy sector is in a holding pen until Genesis comes on the market," said Rickey Ward from Tyndall Investment Management.

Trade Me fell 5.4 per cent to $3.83 after online auction website reported disappointing first-half earnings.

New Zealand Oil & Gas declined 0.6 per cent to 78 cents after reporting static earnings.

Sky Network Television gained 1.2 per cent to $5.84 while Telecom climbed 1.7 per cent to $2.43. Sky City Entertainment Group fell 0.3 per cent to $3.74 and cloud-based accounting software company Xero slid 0.5 per cent to $39.60.


2 min read

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Updated

Source: AAP


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