“The challenges we face are both cyclical and structural. »

The nation’s largest telecommunications company is reviewing its non-core assets and will sell its 17% stake in cell tower company Connexa.

“The balance sheet is starting to stretch and Spark will want to maintain its A minus credit rating,” said Matt Goodson, managing director of Salt Funds Management.

The Spark update was disappointing, he said.

“Investors expected that Spark had not traveled well and that its stock price would be woefully low, compounded by expectations that the stock would be removed from the MSCI Global Index.”

Goodson said the reduction in earnings guidance was moderate and the dividend had not been cut as much as it could have.

“Spark sold its mobile towers at a good price, then used the proceeds to buy back shares for around $5.

“This buyout makes even less sense today, with a share price around $3. Investors will welcome the refocus on the core businesses of telephony, data and IT,” he said.

Tasmania-wide, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.88 per cent to 8,176.5 points at 6pm NZ time, after core inflation was last reported at 3.5 per cent. remained above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2-3% target band.

Goodson said the Reserve Bank was likely to keep interest rates unchanged until next year – inflation simply had not fallen enough.

At home, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare was down 41c at $35.65; Mainfreight fell 95c to $71.65; Auckland International Airport lost 12c to $7.30; Infratil fell 25c or 1.9% to $12.90; a2 Milk fell 10c to $6.38; and Hallenstein Glasson was down 15c or 1.99% at $7.38.

Other decliners were Stride Property down 9c 6.21% to $1.36; Vista Group down 6c or 2.01% to $2.93; Ventia Services down 35c or 6.8% to $4.80; Tourism Holdings lost 11c or 5.45% to $1.91; and KMD Brands down 2.5c or 5.38% to 44c.

Freightways gained another 10 cents to $10.45; Mercury Energy was up 15c or 2.34% at $6.55; Scott Technology rose 23 cents or 11.44% to $2.24; Serko added 11c or 3.32% to $3.42; Senior Health improved by 6c or 2.79% to $2.21; and Promisia Healthcare was also up 6c or 12.77% at 53c.

Comvita fell 3c or 2.54% to $1.15 after telling shareholders at the annual meeting that the 2025 financial year would be one of survival, reset and refocusing, with trading currently in line with the previous corresponding period and pressure on margins which harms the economy. at the end of the line.

The Mānuka honey producer is in discussions with its banking union on an appropriate commitment structure for the 2025 financial year and has said that if this discussion is not successful, current commitments will be breached in December.

Heartland, down 2c or 1.92 per cent at $1.02, told shareholders at the annual meeting it could not provide precise guidance on net profit for the full year due to continued market volatility, but the net interest margin was improving. Heartland still aims to generate a return on equity of 12% to 14% and net income of $200 million for fiscal 2028.

Recruitment firm Accordant Group, unchanged at 50c, reported a 20.69 per cent fall in revenue to $88.91 million and a net loss of $1.438 million for the six months ending September.

Accordant said the slowdown in economic activity had been unusually prolonged, but “we did not subscribe to a ‘survive until 25’ mentality, but rather focused on positioning all activities in the group to respond and respond to conditions by sector and region and capture demand growth wherever it occurs. occurs”.

Transportation technology company Eroad, unchanged at 95c, has formed a partnership with telematics leader Geotab, which has 4 million connected vehicles worldwide, in a bid to expand its fleet management offerings across the ‘Australasia.

AoFrio was up 0.008c or 8% at 10.8c after reporting a 32% rise in revenue to $21.1 million for the three months to September and an increase of 29.1 % to $59.4 million for the nine months. Internet of Things revenue was $32.3 million with a gross margin of 40%.

AoFrio’s full-year revenue guidance narrowed to $75 million to $80 million, down from $70 million to $80 million previously.