NZ sharemarket falls as investors look for cash for airport capital raise

It is the country’s largest corporate equity raising outside of an initial public offering when a company is listed on the sharemarket. Auckland airport and Air NZ had earlier raised $1.2b each in April and May 2022 to strengthen their balance sheets following the covid pandemic.

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 128.16 points or 1% to 12,704.39. There were 62 gainers and 79 decliners over the whole market with the NZX saying at 6pm there were volumes of 33.6 million share transactions worth $100.9m.

Auckland International Airport went into a trading halt after announcing it was making an underwritten equity raising of $1.2b at $6.95 a share. The company last traded at $7.54, and is also raising a further $200m through a retail offer to shareholders at a slightly more discounted price.

The money will initially be used to repay the $150m October 2024 bond and $100m of unhedged drawn loan facilities, and help fund the airport’s $6.6b capital investment programme.