Fisher and Paykel Healthcare startled the sharemarket out of its lethargy this week when it reported a half-year profit of $221.8m on revenue of over $900m. The company again dazzled market analysts, who had been expecting revenue to fall after the record achieved in the previous 12 months, largely through the provision of medical equipment for hospitals to combat Covid.
The Auckland-based company has become the flag-bearer for the hi-tech sector in NZ and has signalled further growth, announcing that over the next five years it expects to invest $700m in land and buildings. This includes a fifth building, completing its Auckland campus, and acquiring land for a second NZ campus.
Over the next five years the company expects to add an additional three manufacturing facilities located outside NZ, the first of which is currently under construction in Tijuana, Mexico.
What sets F&P Healthcare apart from most NZ firms is its investment in R&D which in this half year was 8% of revenue, or $75.7m.
The half-year announcement sent investors piling back into the stock, which bounced up 5%.
The company’s market capitalisation is creeping back close to $20 billion. Continue reading “Fisher and Paykel Healthcare puts pep back into the sharemarket”
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