All eyes on earnings results for NZ’s top listed companies

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The final earnings season of the year swings into action this week, with investors and analysts paying close attention to what will be a health check on the broader economy.

The first cab off the rank was transport company Mainfreight, which posted a disappointing result, but its more positive outlook pleased investors.

Most of the results for listed companies will begin to flow in from today, with more than 20 firms set to reveal their books over the next two-and-a-half weeks, including big names such as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Ryman.

Craigs Investment Partners investment director Mark Lister said current economic pressures would be evident when companies reveal their performance.

“I think you will see all of those pressures that the economy is facing come through in the results.”

High interest rates, as well as inflation in an economy that was “steady” but still facing “challenges”, would be reflected in the earnings, he said.

“Bearing in mind, it’s not all bad. We’ve got strong migration, we’ve got house prices that have started to rebound, we’ve got a weaker New Zealand dollar.”

Recruitment pressures were also easing, he said.

Analysts and investors would be closely watching outlook commentary, as evidenced by last week’s Mainfreight result.

“People were very focused on the numbers and how do things look compared to expectations and how do they look compared to the previous period or the previous year.

“But almost more important than that is, what are you seeing at the moment in terms of trading conditions and how does the future look in terms of the upcoming six months.”

Lister said a number of companies could surprise if results were not as bad as expected, due to factors like a recovering housing market.

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