Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Kiwi Property Group’s says its first half result reflects strong rental and underlying profit growth, with the outlook for the rest of the year in line with expectations.

Still, the Sylvia Park and Drury township developer’s net profit fell 77 percent with an unrealised fair value loss of $30.3 million, versus a gain in the prior year.

Key numbers for the six months ended September compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $9.8m vs $43.2m
• Revenue $136.7m vs $128.4m
• Rental revenue $102.7m vs $95.3m
• Underlying profit $62.9m vs $56.4m
• Expenses $45.7m vs $43.8m
• Net tangible assets $1.12 per share vs $1.17 per share
• Interim dividend 2.8 cents per share vs 2.7 cps.

Kiwi Property’s flagship build-to-rent (BTR) development, Resido at Sylvia Park, was 99 percent leased.

“This result validates the product offering and the attractiveness of well-located, amenity-rich rental accommodation,” chief executive Clive Mackenzie said.

“As we look to the remainder of FY26 and beyond, Kiwi Property is well positioned to benefit from improving economic conditions and the continued execution of our strategy.”

ASB North Wharf’s lease was extended to 2040, while the Vero Centre, which failed to sell earlier this year, was 94.3 percent leased.

“We are excited about the opportunities ahead, including the opening of IKEA at Sylvia Park in early December, further progress at Drury, and continued improvement in operating conditions for our assets.”

The Drury development remained a key priority and focus of the business.

The Drury large format retail sites were 77 percent conditionally sold to big brand name retail stores including Costco Wholesale, Rebel Sport/Briscoes and Harvey Norman.

“Despite a weak economy and a challenging leasing market during HY26, we have delivered strong leasing outcomes across the portfolio,” he said.

Total rental growth, including new leasing and rent reviews, rose more than 3.5 percent, with office leasing spreads up 3.4 percent.

“These results underscore the enduring appeal of our assets and the effectiveness of our leasing strategy in subdued market conditions.

“We are focused on ensuring our centres and office assets remain the destinations of choice for tenants, allowing us to maximise rental growth.”

Mackenzie said the company stood to benefit from a proposed regulatory change on seismic strengthening, which was expected to remove exempt Auckland buildings, where its assets were concentrated

The company confirmed its full year dividend guidance at 5.6 cents per share.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Too many new homes are overheating in the increasingly hot summers and the government is being urged to follow other countries’ leads and do something about it.

There is currently nothing in the Building Act to prevent new builds – particularly terraced homes and apartments – from experiencing “unacceptably high indoor temperatures”, as is being “widely reported by homeowners, designers, and the construction sector”, an open letter to Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk released on Monday morning read.

The letter was signed by Phil Wilson, chief executive of Auckland Council, and his counterpart at the New Zealand Green Building Council, Andrew Eagles, and backed by a range of groups covering architects and the construction industry.

“As we approach the warmer months, there is increasing evidence that many recently built homes are experiencing unacceptably high indoor temperatures during summer,” the letter said.

“The Building Act’s primary purpose is to ensure people can use buildings safely and without endangering their health. Current regulatory settings do not adequately address overheating, particularly in modern higher-density housing typologies.”

Penk himself acknowledged the issue at a housing summit in May, saying changes were needed to avoid people being “cooked alive in their own house”.

At the time, the minister said he was disappointed the issue had been raised and debated through the media rather than being foreseen when upgraded energy efficiency standards – such as better insulation – were put in place.

Monday’s letter said with the number of days with temperatures above 25C projected to more than triple by 2050, changes were needed to prevent cost blowouts for occupants resorting to air conditioning.

“From an economic and environmental perspective, reliance on air conditioning to manage these conditions places additional cost burdens on households and adds to peak electricity demand, creating unnecessary strain on the national energy system and sadly undoing great strides towards being energy efficient in our houses.”

Current designs prioritised access to sunlight, the letter said, but not shade, and the “shift toward higher-density housing has intensified the issue, as terraced and apartment dwellings have fewer external walls and openings, reducing opportunities for natural cross ventilation”.

It proposed similar measures to those used in Australia, where architects were required to model overheating at the design phase, and show a building would stay within reasonable heat limits.

In May, Penk said the government would be raising ventilation regulations and requirements for new builds.

An Auckland Council study conducted last year found some newly built terraces and duplexes in the city were getting too hot.

Council urban design manager Lisa Dunshea said a combination of poor window placement, minimal shade, and a lack of natural ventilation was behind the problem.

Wilson said there were already tools available to help designers build cooler homes, but they were optional.

“It would be good to see this mandated in the Building Code for terraced housing and apartments.”

Speaking to Morning Report, New Zealand Green Building Council chief executive Andrew Eagles said it was a “real sad situation” at a time where people should be happy about moving into a beautiful new home.

“All too often we’re finding that people are getting quite upset about the discomfort they are feeling, they’re getting really high temperatures at night, we’ve got people saying ‘my home is like an oven’ or ‘it’s like a sauna without the fun’. That’s causing sleep issues and real concerns and often it’s a really difficult issue to remedy.”

Eagles said his organisation and Auckland Council had expressed concerns for some time now and was calling for action.

It was a simple fix – as shown overseas – and just required designers to check if a home was at risk of overheating at the design stage.

Designers could then get the information and consider how to rectify the issue – such as using ventilation, shading and orientation.

Eagles said he sees “hundreds of homes” getting it right and delivering comfortable homes for Kiwi families – but with more about 50 percent of homes terrace or apartments – and at greater risk of overheating – the change was needed in the code.

He said it did not require legislative change and would only take “three lines” in the code.

It would not make building more expensive – if any, there would be less cost involved, he said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

What’s being termed ‘dark patterns’ are becoming increasingly prevalent on shopping websites as online businesses scramble for your dollars

Subscriptions that are impossible to cancel, hidden fees added at the checkout, and constant offers of discounts in exchange for your personal information – dark patterns are the internet traps designed to make you spend more money.

While not explicitly illegal, they’re getting overwhelming.

Last month, food delivery company Hello Fresh was fined $845,000 for misleading its customers, and if you’re online shopping this Christmas, you need to be on the lookout.

“It’s things like hidden fees, where you make a purchasing decision, get to the checkout, and suddenly there’s $20, $30, $40 extra,” said Consumer NZ’s Chris Schulz.

“It’s things like scarcity cues … everyone’s seen those, ‘only one left at this price’ notes, and then there’s subscription traps, everyone’s had a meal kit delivery service or a gym membership that they just can’t be bothered to cancel because you know it’s going to be painful.”

Consumer NZ has just released a report detailing its research on dark patterns.

The overwhelming feedback from research participants was frustration, said Schulz.

“[Dark patterns] have a triple impact, they take our money, people told us they have spent more because of dark patterns… they waste our time, some dark patterns are designed to keep us engaged longer on sites or to stop us from going elsewhere.

“They just affect our confidence as well; they chip away at how people feel, especially if you’re in a less confident bracket.”

Some dark patterns also invade our privacy.

“You’ll often get these offers, ’10 percent, if you sign up,’… and then you’ll have to put in your name, you’ll have to put in your address, your date of birth, whether you’re male or female or other, sometimes even more than that.

“Then these companies have information on you, we know they can use that data to target advertising.”

But dark patterns are also incredibly effective.

Alex Sims, a commercial law professor from Auckland University, said a study that monitored websites found those using dark patterns had double the participation rate than websites that didn’t. When there was an aggressive use of dark patterns, participation quadrupled.

But Sims doesn’t think we need new laws, because the Fair Trading Act and the Privacy Act, while not explicitly defining the shady sales tactics, already cover most dark patterns.

“The main one is under the Fair Trading Act, where businesses cannot be misleading, deceptive and mislead people about price… quite a few of the dark patterns are misleading, so therefore breach the Fair Trading Act.”

Under the Privacy Act, if information about an individual has been collected in an unfair manner, then that individual has grounds to lay a complaint, she said.

“Say, for example, you want to buy a pair of shoes… you go to the checkout, and then it says, ‘create an account,’ and it requires your email address, your phone number, and all these other things that you don’t want to give.

“Arguably, you could say that’s not fair because the only way that you could buy those shoes is to enter that information.”

The reason why dark patterns have become so prolific isn’t because of a lack of laws, she said, but a lack of enforcement.

“Even if [companies] do go to the extreme end… what will happen is normally the Commerce Commission will come along, write a letter and say, ‘look we’re investigating this,’ and often if the company goes ‘oh look I’m really sorry we didn’t realise we won’t do it again,’ [and] sometimes the Commerce Commission will keep on going but most of the time they won’t.”

But it’s also a matter of resourcing; taking legal action uses a lot of time and staff, and it’s expensive. But while providing the Commerce Commission with more resources would be a good idea, she said, there is some onus on consumers as well.

“First of all, what they should be doing is when they experience dark patterns, is stop using that website, and that’s what the Consumer NZ report actually identified… almost 40 percent of people had stopped using [those] websites.”

Sharing your bad experience is also helpful, and people can also make a complaint to the Commerce Commission.

“That’s why Hello Fresh was actually prosecuted because a whole lot of people complained… if the Commerce Commission doesn’t know anything about it, it can’t do anything.”

The Hello Fresh case centred around cold calls made to customers between February 2022 and July 2023, where customers were offered vouchers without being told that accepting them would reactivate their subscription to the service.

While this case was still before the courts, Consumer NZ was conducting its study on dark patterns and had participants try to cancel a Hello Fresh subscription.

At the time, this was a five-step process.

Hello Fresh has since updated its subscription services, telling Consumer NZ it streamlined and simplified its cancellation process in the wake of Consumer’s research.

But these kinds of sales tactics remain rife, and in this episode, Sims tells The Detail what tweaks to existing laws she thinks would help tackle the issue.

“With the Privacy Act, have it so when someone has signed up to social media or something like that, that the highest privacy preservation settings are set … and then allow the user, if they want to, then to share it more.

The second one is to prevent nagging, which Sims explains is when little boxes saying ‘buy this now’ or ‘enter your email for a discount’ keep popping up while a shopper is on a website.

“In Europe, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and the Data Act say basically you can’t do that and you’ve got a set time period, so you can’t ask them more than say once every year,” she says.

Then there’s the tweak to prevent subscription traps. Sims says it should be as easy to cancel a subscription as it was to sign up for it.

But amidst the frustration and anxiety these dark patterns cause, there is hope that it could encourage consumers to return to in-store shopping.

Schulz hopes that is the case.

“There is something about that experience.

“I love talking to shopkeepers, you don’t get that experience when you’re online, sometimes you can have really good conversations… I think that could be an upside.”

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tenants have more control in New Zealand’s rental market than they have for a while.

With rents soft and more options to choose from, it’s not a bad time to be looking for a place to live.

But do you know the rules your landlord has to abide by?

Recent Tenancy Tribunal rulings show some are still getting it wrong.

Turn up unannounced

Landlords can’t just turn up to their rental properties without giving notice, even if it is just to do something outside.

They need to give 48 hours’ notice for things like inspections and 24 hours’ notice for repairs or maintenance. If they don’t, they can have exemplary damages awarded against them to a maximum of $1500.

In one case heard by the Tenancy Tribunal recently, a tenant claimed their landlord arrived at the premises uninvited and unannounced, entered the garden and shouted at them about parking in a shared driveway. The landlord argued he had been working on a neighbouring property and noticed where the car was parked.

The tribunal said even if the landlord only stopped at the gate and did not enter the garden, he raised his voice and shouted at the tenants and threatened to end their tenancy. It said the behaviour was a breach of the tenant’s quiet enjoyment and interfered with their reasonable peace, comfort and privacy.

If a house is listed for sale, the tenant has to give permission for open homes to be held.

Require professional cleaning

Your landlord cannot ask you to pay for professional cleaning when you leave, including carpet cleaning.

Tenants are only required to leave the property in a reasonably clean and tidy state.

Sarina Gibbon, director of Tenancy Advisory, said the introduction of new rules around pets could make this a bit murkier. “With the pet provisions coming in, it’s going to be really interesting.”

She said one of the examples given with the introduction of the new rules was that landlords might say a pet was allowed if carpets were cleaned to a professional standard. “That’s just an example given by Parliament… it doesn’t mean it will cover all situations.

“It’s one of those things that I think we’re just going to have to watch how the tribunal interprets the new laws and applied them to give the industry guidance. At the moment we’re still operating under the old rules.

“But without pets, absolutely a tenant cannot be required to professionally clean the carpet.”

Charge a pet bond (yet)

Landlords are not allowed to collect a pet bond until 1 December.

“I’m hearing every week landlords are collecting pet bonds and they have been all year when they are actually not legally allowed to until December 1,” Gibbon said.

“So if a tenant asks for a pet on November 30 and the landlord gives consent on November 30, that landlord cannot collect a pet bond. If the landlord gives consent on December 1, that’s fine.”

Ask tenants to cover the difference when a property is re-let at a lower rent

Gibbon said landlords generally could not ask tenants to pay the difference in rent if they broke a fixed term and the property could not be rented again for the same amount.

“Especially in this market, I’m seeing with market rent going down and tenants trying to get out of fixed-term tenancies, trying to break their lease early, I’m seeing some landlords and property managers try to charge the rental differential because they can’t get the 2024 level of rent in 2025.

“Even though there are some rare exceptions [where] the Tenancy Tribunal has found that the landlord can charge that, those are really quite unusual.

“The law provides for you to charge reasonable expenses that you incur because of the early break but you can’t charge the rental differential because the loss of income is not an expense.”

In a case the tribunal heard, a tenant broke a fixed term that was due to end in December this year in April.

The property was re-let on 5 June and the tribunal said the tenant could be required to pay rent until then.

But while the new tenant was paying $10 less a week, the adjudicator said the former tenant could not be required to cover this because the landlord did not provide enough evidence that the drop was necessary.

“The landlord would need to show that the lower rent was reasonable in the circumstances and that all reasonable steps were taken to achieve the best rent possible. Without this evidence the claim for rent loss is dismissed.”

The adjudicator also said a break fee could not be charged. “The landlord can only claim reasonable costs that are directly related to finding a new tenant. The landlord must provide evidence of these costs. The only cost that the landlord was able to prove was the Trade Me advertisement which I have awarded.”

Take tenants’ possessions

Landlords cannot take tenants’ possessions to cover money they are owed.

In one case involving a Beach Haven property, a landlord who had been sending the tenant “derogatory and racially suggestive messages”, according to the tribunal, entered the premises, threw the tenants’ belongings out, handed them a bill and took their $4000 computer.

The landlord was told to pay $1500 for breaching the tenant’s quiet enjoyment and $3000 for the possessions.

Let rent arrears add up

If a tenant falls behind on rent, the landlord cannot let the arrears mount unreasonably.

The Residential Tenancies Act says when either party breaches the agreement, the other party needs to take reasonable steps to limit the damage or loss.

Gibbon said that duty to mitigate loss meant landlords had to act quickly on arrears.

She said sometimes people would think that their landlord was being nice by not chasing them, and might be complacent. “If that gets piled up it could tip the legal test and the tribunal could very well say essentially you’ve not done anything about it, you’ve not given a 14-day notice, you’ve not sought to terminate the tenancy, you’ve not initiated an installment plan to get yourself compensated… we’re not going to award you all the rent that’s owed to you.”

Not pass on bills in a timely way

Gibbon said people also needed to ensure tenants received bills promptly.

“In Auckland you get billed by Watercare and you’re supposed to pass the usage fee to the tenant each month… you have to on-charge it to your tenant reasonably quickly. I’m seeing landlords who sit on it for months and months or even years then at the end of the tenancy go ‘oh by the way you owe me this much’, like thousands of dollars in water. They can’t do that.”

Leave the country for more than three weeks

Any landlord who leaves the country for more than 21 consecutive days needs to appoint an agent to act for them.

Bungle cabin questions

Gibbon said there could also be problems with tenants wanting to install a cabin.

“If the cabin is a vehicle it’s not really a Residential Tenancies Act issue and to withhold consent or attach conditions to that consent, as landlords sometimes think they’re entitled to, is a breach of the tenant’s quiet enjoyment. But on the flip side, not all cabins or caravans or tiny homes can be brought on to the property by the tenant without the landlords’ consent. It’s complicated.”

She said people should get legal advice.

Retaliate

Landlords can’t give notice to tenants or raise rent in retaliation for anything they have done.

In one case, tenants were given notice in June that a family member was going to move back into their property.

But they said it was prompted by a dispute, including issues about the rent and the healthy homes rules.

“Where there is a short period of time between the tenant raising an issue about the tenancy (or filing a claim) and the landlord serving a notice, this may lead to a strong inference that the landlord was at least partly motivated by the tenant exercising their rights. In this situation, the evidential onus shifts to the landlord to show that there was a legitimate reason for the notice,” the adjudicator said.

“In my view the fact that the landlords served notice the day after the case management conference held in this matter, at which the tenants itemised their claims in some detail, leads to a strong inference that the landlords were at least partly motivated by the tenants exercising their rights.”

The tenants were awarded $1500.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

National’s announcement that it would push up contribution rates for KiwiSaver to a total 12 percent is a good step – but there is a major flaw that needs fixing first, one KiwiSaver provider says.

Prime Minister and National leader Christopher Luxon said on Sunday that if it was re-elected next year, the party would gradually increase KiwiSaver contributions to match the Australian 12 percent rate by 2032, with 6 percent contributions from both employers and employees.

It has already started a process to increase the default rate to 4 percent plus 4 percent by April 1, 2028.

“Smaller retirement balances present a challenge for New Zealand as a whole, too, as we rely more on investment from offshore to fund the infrastructure, start-ups, and housing we need to grow our economy, create jobs and lift incomes,” Luxon said.

“If we’re serious about building the future, and I am, it’s time to aim higher.”

Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura KiwiSaver, agreed contribution rates were not high enough.

He calculated that with a return of 5.5 percent a year and 12 percent contributions, a 21-year-old could end up with $2.13 million in their account at 65, compared to $1.08m at a 3 percent plus 3 percent rate.

Even a conservative investor could end up with another $370,000 as a result of the change, and a balanced fund could have more than $500,000 more.

But he said a big problem was that employers could dodge the increase by moving employees to total remuneration packages.

Under a total remuneration package, an employee is told that a certain amount of money is available to them and they can make their KiwiSaver contributions out of that, or use it as take-home pay.

These have been highlighted as a problem by many providers and the Retirement Commission, who want them banned.

Carlyon said as contribution rates got higher, more people might be tempted to shift over.

“An economically rational person would be better taking the cash in hand rather than opting to have 12 percent of your salary locked up until the age of 65. Without incentives, this policy has the potential to achieve the opposite of what we want – people will be actually discouraged from investing in their KiwiSaver.”

He said employers could not put people on to total remuneration contracts simply to avoid the increase. “But they will be able to turn around, and I suspect to a lot of employees they’ll say ‘hey what do you want to do if you want I’ll give you cash from now on’… they’ll use this as an excuse to move a lot of contracts to total remuneration.”

Carlyon supported calls for a ban on total remuneration. “Admittedly it will put a burden on the private sector but actually it’s a nice fiscally neutral way to incentivise people to save for their retirement.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Christmas shoppers won’t be stocking up at NZSale this year.

The site has closed its operations in New Zealand as of Sunday.

Customers will not be able to return items due to having changed their minds but the site said it would still be able to help customers whose items arrived faulty or damaged.

“But exchanges for size, colour, or preference won’t be accepted or possible after this date.”

NZSale offered sales for a limited time, after which stock was brought in from suppliers and sent to customers.

There had been some complaints in recent years about the length of time some deliveries were taking.

It launched in New Zealand in 2009, and operates in Australia as OzSale and Singapore as SingSale.

OzSale has also said it will close its sites and operations, from 27 January next year.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Got questions? RNZ has launched a new podcast, ‘No Stupid Questions‘, with Susan Edmunds.

We’d love to hear more of your questions about money and the economy. You can send through written questions, like these ones, but even better, you can drop us a voice memo to our email questions@rnz.co.nz.

You can also sign up to RNZ’s new money newsletter, ‘Money with Susan Edmunds‘.

My partner and I have been in Australia for a year. We are both 53 and are looking to stay a few years before returning home. Could you please tell me when we need to be back so our New Zealand pension is not affected if that is how it works?

There is a residency requirement to get NZ Super in New Zealand.

People who were born before 30 June, 1959 need to live in New Zealand for 10 years since they were 20, including five after 50, to be able to qualify. Younger people need to live here longer – anyone born after 1 July, 1977, needs to have lived here for 20 years.

But in your situation, your time in Australia may be able to be used to help you meet this test.

New Zealand and Australia have a Social Security Agreement that means that people who have lived in either country can use the residence in each of those to qualify.

Ministry of Social Development general manager international, disability and generational policy Harry Fenton said if someone relied on time spent in Australia to meet the residency requirements, they would not be able to qualify for NZ Super until they reach the age of entitlement for Australian Age Pension, which is age 67.

I am wondering if it is risky to invest a lot of your money with one provider even if it is diversified across funds? With my example, I have my KiwiSaver with Simplicity, and I also hold an investment fund with them. I am thinking of moving more money across to Simplicity, but putting it into different investment funds. But I’m wondering if I should be diversifying my provider, as well as diversifying my investment fund?

Greg Bunkall, data director at Morningstar, said there isn’t much point in a typical investor spreading their investments across different providers.

The funds you are investing in are already well diversified across businesses, sectors, different parts of the world and asset classes.

“In Simplicity’s case, their high growth fund has over 1000 individual investments, highlighting its strong diversification. In all cases, however, investors should seek independent financial advice and have an expert plan out how their investments are aligned to their goals and objectives.”

Ana-Marie Lockyer, chief executive at Pie Funds, said New Zealand’s regulatory framework requires robust governance, independent custody and strong operational controls – so if what you’re worried about is the provider failing, the risk is really low.

She said there could be benefits to having one provider, too. “Diversifying across asset classes and investment strategies is essential, but diversifying across providers is not typically necessary, provided the chosen manager has strong governance, independent oversight, and a well-designed investment process.”

I would like to caution people against direct debit payments through their bank accounts. Once you set up a direct debit, the recipient has control of what they take from your account – for ever. You have to go through hoops to avoid this and still it seems they have a lifelong access to your account once a direct debit has been arranged.

The Banking Ombudsman has a guide on its website to direct debits.

It notes that a direct debit is not the same as an automatic payment, which is an instruction from you to your bank to make a regular payment of a fixed amount from your account to someone else’s, either for a specified period or indefinitely.

“A direct debit allows the direct debit initiator to submit a specific amount to be debited from your account on each occasion. The amount can be different each time, and this is why some people find it a handy way to pay the likes of telephone and power bills, which vary from month to month.”

It says you should be able to cancel the direct debit at any time.

“The bank must cancel the direct debit when you tell it to do so, but it will also ask you to notify the direct debit initiator. This is a precaution to prevent the initiator unintentionally continuing to send direct debit instructions to your bank.

“If you cancel a direct debit authority but keep using the initiator’s services, you will have to pay in some other way. Direct debits are merely a method of collecting payments. Banks are not responsible for the underlying contract between you and the initiator.”

Deputy banking ombudsman Sarah Parker said open banking should give customers more options, including full control of the timing of the payment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Transport software company ERoad slumped to a $144.2 million interim loss after a major accounting write-down in its North American assets, which did not deliver to expectations.

Key numbers for the six months ended September compared with a year ago:

• Net loss $144.2m vs $1.5m loss
• Revenue $99.1m vs $95.9m
• Annualised recurring revenue $178.1m vs $166.7m
• Operating earnings (excluding one-offs) $2.5m vs $4.7m
• Non-cash impairment $134.7m

Leaving aside one-offs, its operating earnings fell 47 percent, which ERoad said was due to lower capitalisation of research and development, and faster amortisation because of a large legacy customer termination in North America.

Last month, ERoad announced it would prioritise its New Zealand and Australian investment, as the North American market did not deliver to expectations, amid strong competition and the impact of tariffs.

Chief executive Mark Heine said he was committed to financial discipline while progressing ERoad to its next phase of growth.

“We’ll keep focusing on what we control: generating cash, delivering for customers, and directing investment where it creates the most value,” he said.

“The opportunity in front of us is significant, and the team is ready to make the most of it.”

Its free cash flow position rose to $6.2m in the period, compared to $0.1m in the same period a year ago.

ERoad said the improvement in annualised recurring revenue reflected growth in the Australian and New Zealand market, which was offset by a decline in North America.

Heine told RNZ the company also saw opportunities in New Zealand, particularly around the move to electronic road user charges.

“The government knows we provide a great service to them – close to a billion dollars last year – without any cost whatsoever when it came to eRUC,” he said.

“They are really interested in our solution, but they’re also consulting with the broader industry, and we’re partaking as part of those industry consultations.”

Heine said ERoad was “really confident” that it was “well positioned” to capitalise.

The company maintained its full-year revenue guidance of between $197m and $203m.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Retirement village operator Oceania Healthcare has made a first-half profit, despite a slight drop in total revenue.

The company’s total unit sales rose 5 percent to 271 units, including 161 care suites and 110 independent living units.

Key numbers for the six months ended September compared with a year ago:

• Net profit: $4.9m vs $17.1m net loss
• Revenue: $131.6m vs $132.6m
• Underlying profit: $41.5m vs $38.6m
• Total assets: $3.04b vs 2.82b
• Interim dividend: nil

Sales at the Auckland-based Franklin complex were strong with 11 villa sales ahead of completion of construction, which was on schedule.

“The early sales success at our Franklin development reflects the growing strength of Oceania’s sales capability, with product design, pricing, and location increasingly aligned to customer demand,” chief executive Suzanne Dvorak said.

“The project illustrates the effectiveness of Oceania’s disciplined approach to development.

“The broader housing market has constrained our residents’ ability to sell their family homes over recent times, acting as a handbrake on sales. However, once the housing market cycle starts to improve, we expect the strong demographic drivers to return to the fore.”

Chair Liz Coutts said Oceania would not pay an interim dividend in line with the policy targeting a payout ratio of between 40 and 60 percent of free cash flow, subject as well to capital and investment requirements.

“Dividend payments are expected to resume when the business achieves positive free cash flow from operations, supporting a return to payment of dividends,” Coutts said.

She said the focus was on reducing debt, increasing sales and cutting costs.

Oceania planned to take an annual $20.4m out of the business from the next financial year, with four divestments expected to release about $40m in capital.

Dvorak said progress had been made to ensure Oceania’s strategy can deliver stronger cash generation, a leaner cost base and with balance sheet improvements.

“We said we’d strengthen sales, improve operational efficiency, and reduce debt. We’re delivering on all three,” Dvorak said.

“That disciplined execution gives us confidence as we move into the second half and beyond.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man whose business sat right next to a half-finished apartment block is still waiting to be paid $30,000, after ageing concrete collapsed and blocked his driveway.

The Epsom Central Apartments Project halted six years ago, after Auckland Council found it had not complied with building consent.

The original partnership, Epsom Central Apartments LP, was put into receivership in 2022, and purchased by Xiao Liu, the director at the time, of a company named Reeheng Limited, in September 2023.

In September 2024, RNZ spoke to community members and business owners who described the building as a “blight on the Epsom landscape“, which at one point attracted rats and squatters.

Since then, Forrest Tan, who owned neighbouring business Just Laptops, said, not much had changed to the building – but he did take Reeheng Ltd to the disputes tribunal.

In 2024, Tan said ageing scaffolding and unsafe pieces of metal had started falling from the building. He said this included steel bars falling into his carpark and skewering a worker’s car.

Tan said his Manukau Rd shop had to close for three months until metal shuttering that was a further fall risk could be removed.

Since then, Tan said he and several affected parties took Reeheng Ltd to the disputes tribunal, but days before the hearing one of the directors got in touch wanting to settle.

“We agreed on a $60k group settlement,” Tan said, “but none of us ever received a cent.”

“Since then we had to each pursue a case individually.”

Tan said his business Just Laptops was awarded $30,000 by the tribunal in a ruling that has been seen by RNZ but there was still no payment.

The ruling ordered Reeheng Ltd to pay Just Laptops by October 17, 2024. A second ruling from July 30, 2025, said the money needed to be paid “immediately”.

“On an undefended basis and what was said today and supplied with the claim form, I have been satisfied Just Laptops is entitled to the loss of profits portion of its claim,” the ruling said.

This covered the loss of income from May 15, 2024 to June 21, 2024, while the shop was closed after a row of formwork for concreting collapsed over the driveway blocking entry, it said.

In August, Tan demolished his building in part to prepare for his rebuild, he said, and in part due to damage caused to the building by the concrete collapse.

“This would be an ideal time to demolish the next door building too if they were willing to act,” he said.

“My site is now clear, open space. I asked one of the directors to pass on the suggestion of demolition but no response.”

Tan said once his building goes up if any demolition for the apartment block did end up happening it would be “extremely difficult”.

“It’s a boundary-to-boundary structure on a busy stretch of road. Removing it safely will be a major challenge. I don’t know how this will end.”

Tan had been planning a new building on his site for years and said he received resource consent approval back in 2020 for a four-storey building.

“Due to skyrocketing costs we’ve had to scale back to three-storeys,” he said.

Lack of progress ‘disheartening’ for local businesses

In the past year, Greenwoods Corner Epsom Business Association president Dominique Bonn, said scaffolding at the site had been largely removed along with the immediate risks to public safety – but no “meaningful” progress seemed to have occurred.

“Local businesses, including Exhibit Beauty, have observed a slow but steady dereliction of the property since construction ceased in 2019. The prolonged abandonment is not merely an eyesore-it actively affects nearby traders, residents, and how people perceive safety and security in our neighbourhood.”

Yvonne Sanders Antiques, who neighboured the site, had been broken into three times since then and there had been a rat infestation tracked directly to the site, he said.

“This lack of progress is hugely disheartening for local business and the wider area, which has so much local charm and character.

“Several stalled developments such as this cast a shadow over the area’s reputation and vitality.

“Greenwoods Corner Epsom Business Association is calling for greater clarity, accountability, and constructive intervention so that communities are not left to bear the long-term consequences of failed or abandoned private developments.”

Reeheng Ltd has been approached by RNZ for comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand