Subdued start to the year for Deloitte South Island Index

A subdued start to the year for the Deloitte South Island Index

• South Island listed firms market capitalisation fell 1.5% in the quarter to 31 March 2018

Christchurch, New Zealand, 24 April 2018 – The Deloitte South Island Index experienced a subdued start to the year, failing to continue its growth over the previous four quarters. South Island listed firms collectively declined $342.1 million (1.5%) over the quarter to 31 March 2018.

The other benchmark indices tracked also experienced declines during the quarter to 31 March 2018, with the South Island Index experiencing the smallest drop in percentage terms. The ASX All Ords recorded the largest fall decreasing by 4.8%, followed by the Dow Jones falling by 2.6% and the S&P/NZX 50 Capital Index decreasing 2.0% in market capitalisation during the quarter to 31 March 2018.

Scott McClay, a corporate finance partner in Deloitte’s Christchurch office, says that despite the overall decline there were glimmers of growth during the quarter.

“While the performance of the largest companies have buoyed the growth of the Index in recent quarters, the smallest 10 companies stepped up in this latest quarter, collectively growing 6.4% in market capitalisation,” says Mr McClay.

“This is a promising turn around for the smallest 10 companies, which collectively recorded decreases in each quarter of 2017, and hopefully bodes well for the rest of 2018.”

Heartland Bank was the fifth company on the Deloitte South Island Index to achieve market capitalisation greater than $1 billion during the December 2017 quarter. But the first quarter of 2018 saw Heartland Bank drop out of this group as they finished the quarter with a market capitalisation of $980.6 million, down $178.2 million (15.4%).

Synlait Milk was the only participant from the Index’s “Top 4” (companies with market capitalisation greater than $1 billion) to record growth in market capitalisation for the quarter to 31 March 2018, gaining $213.3 million (16.5%). Ryman Healthcare recorded no change in market capitalisation for the quarter, while both Meridian Energy and EBOS Group recorded declines of $179.4 million (2.4%) and $91.5 million (3.2%) respectively.

The most significant declines in percentage terms for the quarter were Silver Fern Farms, who dropped 38.6% ($29.1 million), followed by Smiths City Group who fell by 16.8% ($5.3 million) and SeaDragon who dropped 16.6% ($4.5 million).

Three of the seven sectors posted positive movements in the quarter to 31 March 2018. The Retail sector led the way with a gain of 7.2%, followed by the Primary sector increasing by 3.9%.

To see the full Deloitte South Island Index quarterly report, go to www.deloitte.com/nz/southislandindex.

ENDS

© Scoop Media