MARKET CLOSE: Westpac leads NZX 50's decline

MARKET CLOSE: Westpac leads declines for second day on NZX 50; NZS, ANZ, GFF fall

May 6 (BusinessWire) – New Zealand shares fell, with Australian lender Westpac Banking Corp. leading the decline for a second day as National Australia Bank posted results that disappointed some analysts, adding to doubts about Westpac’s outlook. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group paced the decline. Fletcher Building Ltd. fell.

The NZX 50 Index fell 49.20, or 1.5%, to 3217.92, its second successive drop of that magnitude and the worst this year. Within the index, 32 stocks fell, 10 rose and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $92 million, with volumes dominated by Fletcher, ANZ Bank and Telecom Corp. before its third-quarter results tomorrow.

Shares fell across Asia for a second day, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 falling 2.1% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index down 3.3% as doomsayers fretted about reverberations and contagion from the debt crisis in Greece and looming threat of Portugal.

Westpac sank 6.7% to $31.15 on the NZX. Its second-half earnings growth is in question after the outlook comments with its first-half results yesterday. ANZ Bank dropped 3.6% to $29.

Telecom was unchanged at $2.15 as 13 million shares changed hands before its results. The Auckland-based phone company will report a 47% decline in profit for the three months ended March 31 to $84 million, according to Forsyth Barr analyst Guy Hallwright. Outages on its XT network will cost at least $15 million.

NZ Farming Systems Uruguay dropped 5% to 37 cents. About 4% of the stock is held by the receivers of Rural Portfolio Investments and is needed to repay preference shareholders.

Goodman Fielder Ltd. fell 3.2% to $1.82. Fletcher Building, the biggest company on the bourse, fell 1.3% to $8.15.

Smart Pay Ltd., the EFTPOS services company, fell 2.5% to 3 cents. The company announced today it will eliminate about 40 jobs involved in manufacturing terminals and outsource the work to specialist companies.

Guinness Peat Group fell 2.2% to 89 cents ahead of the investment group’s shareholders’ meeting in London, when details of a “value return” to investors are to be announced.

(BusinessWire)

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