27.9.23 EROAD Ltd has completed the retail shortfall bookbuild component of its underwritten 1 for 2.06 accelerated pro-rata renounceable entitlement offer, which concludes the equity raising that it announced on September 7. Approximately $50 million in gross proceeds was raised via the equity raise. The capital raised will strengthen EROAD’s balance sheet, giving it “greater flexibility to continue its strategy of sustainable, profitable growth maximising long term shareholder value. “The...

26.9.23   Air New Zealand’s customer demand remains solid across most of the airline’s markets, said Dame Therese Walshe, chairman, at today’s AGM, whilst noting that “in recent weeks we have seen softening in corporate and domestic demand.” “We are mindful of the uncertain economic environment however and acknowledge there are a number of factors that may impact future customer demand and profitability. “These include increased international competition, volatile fuel prices, a weaker...

Cooks Coffee expects to shortly appoint administrators to place its Triple Two coffee franchise business, comprising Triple Two Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries, into an insolvency process. Triple Two was growing rapidly before the Covid-19 pandemic and had shown continuing momentum in FY22, says Cooks. “However, in recent times, this momentum has not been able to be maintained and the business has been adversely impacted by the current market environment. Currently there are 11 operating...

25.9.23 Synlait Milk’s weaker FY23 results released today show the eroding effects of an array of events over what the company’s management says was a “highly challenging’ period. Synlait CEO Grant Watson  reports “Various factors contributed to our poor financial performance including material reductions in customer demand, CO2 shortages, extreme weather events, the COVID-19 pandemic, inflationary impacts, ongoing investments in new product workstreams (i.e., UHT cream and Advanced Nutrition...

21.9.23 New Zealand Oil & Gas has agreed to extend the Gas Supply Agreement with South32 Cannington for supply of gas from the Mereenie field, for an additional 12 months. Gas supplied under the agreement will be aggregated with existing Mereenie gas supply owned by Macquarie Mereenie Pty Ltd (50%), Central Petroleum Ltd (25%), NZOG Mereenie Pty Ltd (17.5%) and Cue Mereenie Pty Ltd (7.5%), collectively the “Mereenie JV”, to supply a total of 1.46 PJ to South32 in 2025. The GSA is for firm...

KMD Brands has achieved record sales of over $1.1 billion dollars in the first year of uninterrupted trade post-pandemic, a significant milestone for the Group FY23 key highlights (vs FY22): Group sales record, up 12.6% to $1.1 billion o All brands grew sales, with Rip Curl and Oboz achieving record sales Gross margin improvement 20 basis points to 59.1% Underlying EBITDA of $105.9 million, up 15.1% YOY despite softening consumer sentiment in the fourth quarter Statutory NPAT of $36.6 million;...

In a wide ranging market update this afternoon Synlait Milk responded to a2 Milk move to drop exclusive IMF manufacturing, announced bank refinancing is complete and confirmed FY23 guidance Synlait Milk’s several updates to the market were: Synlait advises that it has successfully completed its planned bank refinancing today. Synlait’s banking group remains supportive, having today completed the planned refinancing of its syndicated banking facilities. The new funding arrangements are: Working...

A trading halt was placed on Synlait Milk ordinary shares and “SML010” bonds by RegCo at the start of the business day at the request of the company. The halt was placed at premarket open today, Monday, 18 September 2023. SML has requested the trading halt while it considers new information it has received in relation to a material contract with a third-party customer, and the impact of this information on SML. The trading halt is expected to be lifted at the earlier of the release of an...

The NZX market closed the week in a more buoyant mood, rising 34.2 points to 11,347.743  on the NZX50 index. Overnight the Dow Jones closed at 34,907.11. The biggest falls of the session came from Mainfreight down 188c to $64.40, a near 3 year low point, and EBOS down 46c at $35.15. F&P Healthcare down 12 at $21.40 despite a briefing in California and Mexico to analysts. PGG Wrightson shed 10c at $3.45, -2.80%. Vista Group lost 7c at $1.50, -4.46% - the market may have missed reading...

Radius Care announced that due to strong FY24 year to date trading, the company’s first half Pre-NZ IFRS16 EBITDA is likely to be in the range $9.8m to $10.5m. This represents a record result with a 40% to 50% uplift compared to the previous record of $7.0m underlying Pre-NZ IFRS16 EBITDA, achieved in the first half of FY23. Continued strong occupancy and successful execution of the business improvement program have materially lifted EBITDA. Significant focus on sales, realised gains from unit...

Briscoe Group has again out-performed expectations by posting a net profit after tax (NPAT) of $42.75 million for the half-year ended 30 July 2023 compared to $45.62 million achieved for last year’s first half. The half-year results are unaudited. Dame Rosanne Meo, Briscoe Group chair said, “This half-year result represents a very solid performance considering the continued headwinds faced by the retail sector and to post record sales for the half is a significant achievement. “The ability of...

12.9.23 Air New Zealand shares eased by 5c today to trade at 75c after the airline posted a notice on NZX alerting the market to a development expected to affect the maintenance programme for part of its aircraft fleet. In July 2023, Pratt & Whitney disclosed a condition affecting the maintenance plan for the global Geared Turbo-Fan (GTF) jet engine fleet. Overnight, Pratt & Whitney provided a further market update stating that approximately 600 to 700 engines globally will be impacted...

Goodman (NZ) Ltd advises that GMT’s FY24 interim result is expected to include a $230 million or 4.7% reduction in the fair value of its property assets. Draft valuation reports from independent valuers indicate that the portfolio will be valued around $4.7 billion on 30 September 2023. The softening in real estate investment yields over the last six months is reflected in the weighted average capitalisation rate of GMT’s investment portfolio, which has increased from 5.2% at 31 March 2023, to...

2 Cheap Cars Group advised NZX that due to strong trading in the first five months of FY24, profit will likely exceed the top end of previous guidance. As a result, the company is increasing FY24 net profit after tax (NPAT) guidance to a range of $5.2m to $5.7m, up from $4.2m to $5.0m previously communicated in July. The upgrade is the result of a sharp focus on achieving better gross margin, successfully addressing shipping constraints and improved performance at the processing hub. The...

7.9.23 Transportation technology services company EROAD is seeking to raise approximately $50 million of new capital. The structure of the equity raise is an institutional placement to raise approximately $11.6 million (“Institutional Placement”) and a 1 for 2.06 pro rata accelerated renounceable entitlement offer to raise approximately NZ$38.4 million (“Entitlement Offer”) The equity raise involves the offering of new ordinary shares in EROAD and is fully underwritten. During 2022, EROAD...

4.9.23 Black Pearl Group told investors at today’s annual meeting that it has made significant strides in the nine months since launching on the NZX The company had fully subscribed a capital round in a challenging market and gone on to accomplish rapid revenue growth while actively reducing and capping costs. CEO Nick Lissette ticked off the key messages. He said Black Pearl has delivered next level, AI driven technology to the market. “We have successfully created and launched a powerful new...

SkyCity Entertainment Group made the shock announcement to NZX earlier today that it has been informed by the Department of Internal Affairs that the department’s secretary is making an application to the Gambling Commission to temporarily suspend SkyCity Casino Management Ltd’s casino operator’s licence for a period “in the range of 10 days”. SkyCity Casino Management Ltd (SCML), a subsidiary of SkyCity, is the holder of the casino operator’s licence for the SkyCity Auckland, SkyCity Hamilton...

Auckland Council has sold down half of its shareholding in Auckland International Airport to raise capital relieving the council’s financial straits. Auckland Council entered into a block trade agreement with UBS New Zealand Limited under which Auckland Council appointed UBS to manage and underwrite the sale of 66,053,498 AIA Shares at a price determined under the block trade agreement – the resultant price being $8.10 per AIA Share. As a consequence of the block trade agreement, there is a...

New Zealand Oil & Gas told the NZX market this morning that it is delivering on its growth strategy, after clearly relishing the different attitude to oil and gas exploration in Australia. CEO Andrew Jefferies succinctly stated “Gas is a three letter word for transition” meaning to sustainable fuels. The NZX-listed company’s June year result is the second consecutive year of increasing revenue since the acquisition of Amadeus Basin assets in Australia’s Northern Territory. Revenue from...

Shares in wool carpet and rug manufacturer Bremworth rallied 3c to 43c after it reported a 393% lift in unaudited net profit after tax as insurance payouts following Cyclone Gabrielle help boost the company’s full-year results Bremworth’s net profit after tax (NPAT) rose 393% from $2.2m to $11.0m in the year ending 30 June 2023. Note that normalised NPAT was down from a profit of $1.7m in FY22 to a loss of $2.4m in FY23. Against the backdrop of the disrupted supply chain following Cyclone...

  Some days the NZ market just doesn’t take heed of the price evening’s action on the US market and today was one of those. The latest US JOLTS index which measure the availability of job openings was well behind expectations and this perked investment interest in equities on the assumption bad news for employment will soften Federal monetary action and that is good for shares. Yes, sounds weird but that’s the investment market – so Wall Street had its best day mid-year leaping 292 points...

30.8.23 MHM Automation has released preliminary full year results for the year ended 30 June 2023 lifted by demand for automation equipment and a successful acquisition. The 2023 financial year saw record results across the MHM business, with revenue growth of 43% to $96.7m and EBITDA growth of 107% to $9.87m. The bottom line reported net profit increased 116% to $3.91m. MHM also completed the acquisition of Wyma Engineering which is transformational for the group providing us with further...

  Hi-tech software and services investment company Enprise Group has reported unaudited revenue of $20.7 million for the June 2023 year, 10.7% up from $18.7 million reported for FY22. Total comprehensive income for the year ended 30 June 2023 was a loss of $11.8 million (down $9.7 million from a loss of $2.1 million for the year ended 30 June 2022). This decline was due to several factors including; the write off of all goodwill from Kilimanjaro ($6.7 million) and iSell ($1.0 million). •...