NZ sharemarket falls as major Ebos Group shareholder sells $1b stake

The S&P/NZX 50 Index closed down 0.65% or 80.95 points, falling to 12,281.31, with 71,291,954 shares changing hands to the value of $1.132 billion.

The S&P/NZX 20 index closed at 7,255.75, down 0.61%, while the S&P/NZX 10 index closed at 1,850.61, down 0.37%.

There were 67 gainers on the main board and 75 decliners.

Sybos Holdings, a unit of Zuellig Group, said it had entered into a block trade agreement with a financial institution to underwrite the sale of about 27 million shares in Ebos Group.

Following the sale, Sybos – once a cornerstone investor – will have a 4.9% shareholding in Ebos, the largest and most diversified Australasian marketer, wholesaler and distributor of healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical products.

Shares in Ebos fell 4.24% to $37.30, down $1.65, with a significant 27,160,065 shares trading hands to the value of $964,821,208.75.

Biggest deal for some time

Salt Funds Management managing director Matt Goodson said the deal had gone pretty well considering its size.

“Our market’s weaker clearly because of the Ebos raise and the fundraising associated with that,” Goodson said.

“[A sum of] 950 odd million in our market is one of the biggest for quite some time. Priced at $35.55 and it’s trading at $37.30, you have to say that’s been pretty successful trading 5% above the deal price.”

Ryman not popular

Meanwhile, Ryman Healthcare reported a $436.8 million loss after devaluations rose 532%, hitting its bottom line hard.

But its total revenue increased 10% from $689.9m to $760.7m after the business continued to sell nearly as many units in the latest year as it did a year previously.

Ryman Healthcare’s share price fell 7.88% to $2.22, down $0.19, with 3,044,121 shares trading hands to the value of $6,849,514.35.

“The market did not like Ryman at all, there were two issues really.

“The main one is soft guidance for the next 2026 year, and for the same reason the resales inventory continues to lift somewhat.

“The real problem for them all in the sector at the moment and the real pressure on cash flow is this inability, this paucity of transactions, which makes it harder for them to sell new and used units.”

Mainfreight ahead of expectations

Mainfreight also posted its results today with revenue up 11% to $5.24b billion, beating the market consensus, which was $5.1b.

However, its profit before tax declined 3% to $383.6m in the 12 months to March 31. The profit before tax was $395.34m the year prior.

Shares in Mainfreight were up 0.68% to $67.00, up 45c, with 82,910 shares trading hands to the value of $5,535,762.00.

The world

Goodson said investors should look for the MSCI index tomorrow, which won’t have changes for New Zealand but will see significant rebalancing flows between stock and between countries.

Wall Street stocks retreated Wednesday ahead of earnings from artificial intelligence titan Nvidia, with US Treasury bond yields ticking higher.

Results from chip company Nvidia have been the most anticipated event of the week, given the company’s influence as a leader in AI. Nvidia shares fell 0.5% on Wednesday.

US Treasury yields resumed their upward climb. Yields had moderated in recent days after spiking to multi-month highs last week in a sign of unease about the US fiscal outlook.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.6% at 42,098.70.

The broad-based S&P 500 also dropped 0.6% to 5,888.55, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.5% to 19,100.94.

– Additional reporting AFP