Fletcher and Spark earnings settle investors
The S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 45.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,981.03. Within the index, 19 stocks gained, 28 fell, and three were unchanged. Turnover was $133.4 million.
Fletcher led the market higher, rising 4.4 percent to $5.41 on a bigger volume than usual of 4.2 million shares. It reported a first-half profit of $82 million, down from $89 million a year earlier, due largely to costs from its Australian restructuring. It lifted its interim dividend to 11 cents per share form 8 cents.
Grant Davies, an investment adviser at Hamilton Hindin Greene, said the result offered some certainty to investors after heavy selling last week.
“Fletcher had been sold off quite a bit in the lead up to the result. So, an increase in certainty of direction has helped some investors be more comfortable with where the company is at,” he said.
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