New Zealand stocks have gained, led by Sky Network Television, after the pay-TV operator posted earnings that beat estimates.
Telecom has rebounded from a selloff on Friday when it posted a modest gain in earnings and announced a rebranding strategy.
The NZX 50 Index rose 42.005 points, or about 0.9 per cent, to 4969.645 on Monday.
Within the index 21 stocks rose, 19 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was a larger-than-average $179 million and included about $47m of Telecom stock.
Sky TV jumped 5.7 per cent to $6.08, after posting a first-half net profit of $82.1m on lower programming costs and as more subscribers switched to its premium services.
Telecom rose 3.2 per cent to $2.45. The nation's biggest telecommunications provider disappointed investors on Friday after it posted a 2.5 per cent gain in first half earnings, announced plans to rebrand as Spark and develop an internet television service to rival Sky TV.
Of New Zealand's top 50 listed companies, nearly half have reported first-half or full-year earnings over the past two weeks.
"Sky TV came out with a positive surprise, which is good, they've had a strong day," said David Price, broker at Forsyth Barr.
"It's actually been a familiar sort of thing with this results round - we've seen companies that have disappointed get hammered on the day, and then the following trading day they make up for what they lost the previous day."
Among companies that reported earnings last week, Fletcher Building rose 1.2 per cent to a three month high $9.87.
Auckland International Airport rose one per cent to $3.735 and Sky City Entertainment Group rose 2.9 per cent to $3.91.
Freightways gained 2.8 per cent to $4.70. New Zealand's largest listed courier service reported a three per cent lift in its first-half earnings.
Chorus fell 1.1 per cent to $1.42, after reporting a 7.1 per cent decline in first-half profit and saying it won't pay an interim dividend as it prepares for regulated price cuts on its copper wires in December.
