The capitalisation — the value of their shares on issue — looks at companies with a large exposure to operations and trading in the South Island.
Of the 31 companies represented across seven sectors, their collective market capitalisation grew by 9%, or $1.87billion to hit $22.81billion, for the quarter to December.
The Deloitte South Island Index now has a new "top five" rating, with five companies now with market capitalisations above $1billion each.
Heartland Bank is the newest entrant; its 22.1% gain led the way in percentage gains, followed by Ryman Healthcare, which gained 14.2%, or $660 million; Synlait Milk gained 8.6% or $102.2 million, Ebos Group was up 8.3%, $216.6 million and Meridian Energy grew 2.8%, or $205.1 million for the quarter to December 2017.
Deloitte corporate finance partner Scott McClay said the quarter’s strong growth was buoyed by the largest companies on the index. However, the recent US and global market falls could affect the March 2018 quarter figures.
Mr McClay said Silver Fern Farms’ strong quarter resulted in a 36.4% change in market capitalisation. Its share price rose by 20c. Silver Fern appointed Simon Limmer as its new chief executive during the quarter, and also agreed the full and final subscription price of $260 million in cash for the 50:50 partnership with Shanghai Mailing. Heartland Bank became the fifth company to achieve market capitalisation of more than $1billion, growing by $209.9 million or 22.1%, to $1.15billion, Mr McClay said.
In percentage terms, the renamed Aged Care sector grew 15.4%, or $777.7 million. Ryman Healthcare grew $660 million and Arvida Group is up $117.7 million to $525.5 million.
Mr McClay said said the smallest 10 companies on the index pulled the overall performance down as their collective market capitalisation fell by $28.8 million, or 23.2% in the quarter.
The companies with the largest declines in market capitalisation during the quarter were Blis Technology, which fell 41.4%, Pharmazen, down 40%, and Blue Sky Meats, which was down 24.4%.Outside the Top 5, the index’s best performers in the quarter in percentage terms included Silver Fern Farms, which gained 36.4%, or $20.1 million and New Zealand King Salmon Investments, up 30.1% or $74 million. Mr McClay said compared with other benchmark indices, the Deloitte index’s quarterly gain of 9% was outperformed by only the Dow Jones, which grew 10.4% over the same period. The ASX All Ords grew by 7.4% and the S&P/NZX 50 Capital Index increased by 5.3% over the quarter to December, he said.simon.hartley@odt.co.nz
