South Island companies appear to be recovering after the Canterbury earthquakes, the latest Deloitte South Island Index shows.
However, the index was compiled before the latest round of panic selling in world sharemarkets after the downgrading of United States sovereign debt by Standard & Poor's.
The index for the three months ended June was up $51.7 million, or 1.2% in market capitalisation, compared with the three months ended March.
Total market capitalisation for the index now stands at nearly $4.4 billion, an increase of 10.6% on a year ago.
Deloitte corporate finance partner Paul Munro said the June quarter started positively for the index companies with 5.2% growth in April, before losing ground because of a significant fall in Pyne Gould Corporation's market capitalisation in June.
"There is certainly cause for optimism for South Island listed companies as the region continues to recover from the Canterbury earthquakes.
Business confidence is very positive right now and this is likely to be maintained as the rebuilding of Christchurch gathers pace."
One issue of concern was the potential for skills shortages to emerge as the recovery strengthened because of the number of people who had left the region in the months after the February quake, he said.
Ryman Healthcare was the strongest performer during the June quarter, with an increase in market capitalisation of $200 million, or 16.9%, after announcing a 17% profit for the 2011 financial year.
Other positive results included NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, which grew 27.3%, or $36.7 million; Silver Fern Farms, which was up $18.5 million, or 42%; and Chatham Rock Phosphate, up $1.8 million, or 39.1%.
Mr Munro said an interesting development for the index was the addition of Heartland New Zealand Ltd, after the merger of CBS Canterbury, Marac and Southern Cross Building Society. The company was listed on the NZX-50 on February 1 and finished the June quarter at seventh on the index with a market capitalisation of $207 million.
The hardest-hit company in the quarter was Pyne Gould Corp, which shed $131.5 million in market capitalisation (60.3%) and fell five places to 12th after it distributed all its shares in Heartland to shareholders and cancelled 73.2% of each shareholder's PGC holding.
On an industry basis, the property sector surged ahead by 16.9% largely because of Ryman's strong showing, he said.
The primary, port and biotechnology sectors all performed well, increasing 6.3%, 4.6% and 6.6% respectively, Mr Munro said.
The top 10
Ryman Healthcare, 1; Kathmandu Holdings, 2; PGG Wrightson, 3; Ebos Group, 4; Lyttelton Port, 5; Skellerup Holdings, 6; Heartland New Zealand, 7; Skyline Enterprises, 8; Cavotec MSL Holdings, 9; NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, 10.
