26 Aug 2015

Business Briefs

2:45 pm on 26 August 2015

A round-up from Radio NZ's business desk, today featuring Metro Performance Glass, SkyCity, Works Finance and Mercer Group.

Metro Performance Glass to miss profit forecast

Metro Performance Glass says it is going to miss its net profit forecast for the first half of the year by as much as 17 percent.

The chair of the manufacturing glass company, Sir John Goulter, told shareholders at the annual meeting this morning that the construction industry has been struggling to meet a high level of demand for residential and commercial building, which has resulted in frequent delays.

He says the constraints have hit Metro's performance, which means it will miss its net profit forecast for the six months ending in September by at least $1.1 million, with a revised guidance of between $10-11 million - compared with the prospectus forecast of $12.1 million.

Sir John says the company is cautiously optimistic that the current building cycle will peak later than it is previously anticipated.

The company is now forecasting sales of $190 million for the 12 months ending in March, with a full year net profit in a range of $20-22 million.

SkyCity's proposed seven-year bonds rated

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's has given a triple-B-minus rating to SkyCity's proposed seven-year bonds.

The firm is considering raising $100 million, plus up to another $25 million in over-subscriptions.

Profit lift for Works Finance

Works Finance has reported a better annual profit.

The firm's profit jumped 17 percent to $16.5 million in the year to the end of June, when compared to last year.

Its revenue also rose 17 percent to almost $12 million.

Larger loss for Mercer Group

Stainless-steel firm Mercer Group has reported a bigger annual loss.

Its loss widened to $6.7 million in the year to the end of June, when compared with the previous year.

Revenue jumped almost 7 percent to $43.6 million.