Latest news with #Robertshawe
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Mainfreight rebounds, Gentrack takes a hit as NZX trades flat
'So people will be going: 'Is that growth rate that we've got built in really achievable if your existing customers are churning off?'.' Going in the other direction was Mainfreight, which rose 0.96% to $60.07 on volumes amounting to more than $5m in volume traded. Mainfreight shares fell 10% last week after the business told attendees of its annual shareholders' meeting that it had a 'slow and disappointing' start to the financial year. Robertshawe noted an NZX disclosure notice on Friday that showed managing director Don Braid had bought 10,000 shares for just above $58 per share. 'That's got to be an endorsement,' he said. 'That was a disappointing result, but he's viewing this as a cyclical problem rather than any change to the long-term plan, and he's backing it with his own money.' Announcements In an update for the three months to July 27, Briscoe Group said second-quarter sales rose 2.07% to $192.9m compared with the same period last year. Managing director Rod Duke said a bounce in the homeware segment, up 3.97% in the quarter, followed a weak start to the financial year. Shares were unchanged at $6.01. Forsyth Barr equity analyst Paul Koraua said the result was a 'good improvement'. However, because the share price has risen nearly 15% since the company was added to the NZX 50 index in June, the investment case has changed. A month ago, Forsyth Barr set its target price for Briscoe Group at $5.95 and downgraded it to 'underperform' from 'neutral'. Rakon shares dipped 2.47% to 79 cents after former executive and shareholder Brent Robinson said he would not support Mark Bregman, Lisbeth Jacobs and Jon Raby to join the board at its scheduled meeting later this month. Rakon said its 12.19% shareholder, Taiwanese company Siward Crystal Technology Co and its board appointee, Jung Meng Tseng, were also against the independent board appointments, which included Bregman becoming chair. M&A Action Tourism Holdings (THL) shares rose 0.49% to $2.06 after it told the market that an unsolicited indication of interest from a consortium to buy it for $2.30 a share was an 'opportunistic and undervalued offer'. 'Based on careful consideration and external analysis, the board has come to the view that the value of the company is well north of $3.00 per share,' it said. In June, it received an indication of interest from a consortium comprising BGH Capital and the family interests of Luke and Karl Trouchet, directors of the company. '[THL] want to get people interested, doing their due diligence and becoming interested in the company, but they're not going to sell it less than what they think it's worth,' Robertshawe said. 'They'll be hoping that BGH and the insider reassess what bid they can pay, and that it's materially higher than $2.30, but this could take a long time to play out.' Staying with acquisitions, prospective SmartPay buyer Shift4 Payments obtained the necessary consent under the Overseas Investment Act for its proposed acquisition of SmartPay. The scheme of arrangement, under which Shift4 would acquire all the shares in Smartpay for $1.20 per share in cash, is now one step closer to completion. SmartPay shares gained 1.79% to finish the day at $1.135.
NZ Herald
15-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Tourism Holdings picks up speed as NZX trades flat on low volumes
The NZX Briscoe Group compounded Monday's gains, lifting 3.1% to 5.99. Robertshawe said the stock is continuing to benefit from joining the share market's main index in June. 'It shouldn't happen this way, but it does, just because it's in the 50, more people are looking at it, and so you'll get more people researching it.' NZ's largest electricity lines company, Vector, rose 2.26% to $4.53. According to Robertshawe, a couple of analysts from broking houses ('I think Forsyth Barr and Jarden') have upped their longer-term forecast and valuations for the stock recently. Tourism Holdings (THL) gained 9.09% to $2.16 on volumes worth just over $63,000. The campervan company informed the market in June that it had received a buyout offer. The $2.30 per share offer price represented a 57.5% premium over the at-the-time trading price of $1.46. 'It got under $2 when there's a bid at $2.30, potentially just around the corner. That seems a bit wrong. So that's not a surprising move,' Robertshawe said. Another company that is potentially being taken over, Vital, was up 1.16% to 43.5 cents. In June, Tait Communications, a Christchurch-based critical communications systems provider, made a formal offer to purchase the company for 45c per share and 13c per employee option. A significant product holder (SPH) notice released to the NZX by Vital on Tuesday showed Tait had upped its stake to 30.4%. The US Unlike the United States' S&P 500 and the Australian bluechip ASX 200, which are trading at all-time highs, the NZX 50 is still down nearly 3% for the year to date. Overnight, President Donald Trump threatened Russia with 'severe' tariffs and other financial penalties if the war in Ukraine does not end soon, in a meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. That came after Trump said he would impose a 30% rate for Mexico and the European Union, which would kick in on August 1 if they did not accept better terms in the ongoing trade discussions with the two trading partners. Robertshawe said a state of inertia had set in and that markets appear to be ignoring news that would, in normal circumstances, move global stocks. 'Risks are clearly higher than February. Even if a tariff is stuck at 10%, it's still higher than they were before then. Earnings have been downgraded to 3% to 4% globally, and markets are at new highs. 'The market's saying, 'Despite it being riskier than it was, I'm happy to pay more for stocks'. And I think that is hard to understand from a fundamentals perspective.'
