Downgrades and lowered forecast earnings per share have prompted disappointment with the almost-completed New Zealand and Australian company reporting season.
Of the NZX companies followed by Craigs Investment Partners, only 31% had their full-year earnings per shares (EPS) revised up, while the ASX companies fared only a bit better, 44% gaining an upward revision, Craigs' research said.
Craigs broker Peter McIntyre said while the reporting season was ''not a disaster'' it was otherwise ''underwhelming'' on the basis of the provisional returns so far.
''Of the 35 or so New Zealand companies that we followed through reporting season, only 11, or 31%, saw their full-year 2015 EPS estimates revised up during the month,'' he said.
Earlier, at the half-way point of the reporting season, 26 companies of 49, brokerage Forsyth Barr said eight had reported above expectations, 10 were in line with expectations and eight came in below expectations.
Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said companies' earnings revisions, once they had reported, were at the time running net negative for full-year 2015 estimates.
''Of the 26 companies that have reported to date, post-result revisions include eight [earnings] upgrades and 16 downgrades, with two unchanged,'' she said.
However, she said with positive revisions of Contact Energy and Meridian Energy, Forsyth Barr's three year annualised weighted EPS growth, for 2015-17, was up slightly, at 6.8%. Mr McIntyre said in Australia, results were a little better, at least for the 48 companies Craigs follows. Of those, 21, or 44%, saw consensus full year 2015 EPS estimates upgraded.
''While this was slightly better than New Zealand, analysts still saw more reasons to downgrade earnings forecasts than upgrade them, and the average downgrade was 1.3%,'' he said.
Aside from Diligent's report last Monday, retailers Briscoes Group and The Warehouse are to report today and tomorrow, respectively.
Mr McIntyre said he expected ''two very different tales'' from the big retailers.
He expected Briscoes' report to reveal it had done ''extremely well, and show some profit margin expansion, highlighting many of its products were aligned to the housing market.
In January The Warehouse downgraded its profit expectations, warning after-tax profit was likely to be down 20%, ''in the region'' of $37 million.
''The Warehouse will be the one to watch,'' Mr McIntyre predicted.
Several New Zealand retailers have reported poor results during the past year. The warm winter prompted a decline in sales, leaving companies holding more inventory, and for some, Christmas and New Year sales were below expectations.
