\u201cWe have net downgrades across the board for 2027, with earnings per share downgrades outweighing upgrades by a factor of 6:1.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shane Solly, portfolio manager at Harbour Asset Management, said there remains some \u201cquiet resilience\u201d in a number of New Zealand businesses despite challenges posed by turbulence in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe New Zealand sharemarket is obviously very different from the economy, but even the companies that are exposed to the economy have done a better job than many people have expected,\u201c he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got Fletcher Building, Ryman and Oceania, for example, they\u2019re all sensitive to activity, and they\u2019ve actually skated through this period okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a self-help thing that is quite powerful. They probably would have been in a better place if the economy had actually kept rolling like it had.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the consistent theme we\u2019re hearing from people. Up until, you know, probably mid-March, things were looking pretty good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pushback on this, of course, is maybe we haven\u2019t seen the tough times yet, but I can tell you now that if you go and talk to retailers, if you go and talk to people that are providing services to homes and businesses, that fuel price increase has been felt very quickly in terms of consumer and business confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solly said his discussions with unlisted companies revealed economic conditions had not worsened but the recovery had not come through in the way that many expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have got businesses like Mainfreight<\/a> that have managed through what is another challenging time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have these resilient businesses that underpin our market, and then of course, there are the electricity generators, who have had a pretty good period in terms of hydrology.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonterra\u2019s third-quarter result<\/a> was seen as a positive.<\/p>\n In terms of the outlook, Solly said it would be up to the individual companies as to how they execute their growth plans.<\/p>\n Companies with good structural drivers will keep growing faster than the broader economy, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got global businesses like Fisher & Paykel Healthcare<\/a> that will be on track to deliver double-digit earnings growth.<\/p>\n