Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Board directors have a strong sense the economy is improving, amid rising concerns about shareholder activism, while other emerging risks go largely unchecked.

The annual Director Sentiment Survey, by the Institute of Directors (IoD) in association with ASB, indicates 55 percent of directors thought the economy would improve over the next 12 months, compared with 52 percent last year and 28 percent in 2023.

“This is the highest level of optimism about the prospects for the national economy that we have seen since the survey began in 2014,” IOD general manager Guy Beatson said.

“Despite the improved outlook, boards continue to prioritise cost control, cashflow and productivity, reflecting uncertainty about the pace of recover.

“Directors are planning for steady recovery rather than rapid growth, with resilience and operational discipline top of mind.”

ASB Chief Economist Nick Tuffley said the biggest shift was in the number of of directors expecting the economy to get worse at 18 percent compared with 28 percent last year.

“Most of those people have moved into the neutral camp,” Tuffley said, adding there were two factors driving the improving outlook.

“One is the lagging impact of past and future interest rate declines, which will increasingly support household spending, the housing market and, eventually, construction.

“The other is the good run of export incomes in some key industries, although the fruits of this are likely to be gradual in coming through and concentrated in particular regions rather than felt nationwide.”

Shareholder activism seen increasing

Another emerging concern was an increase in shareholder activism, which was expected to increase over the next two years.

Beatson said 44 percent expected activism to have a moderate or high impact on their boards.

“The expectation of shareholder or member activism differs sharply across organisation types,” Beatson said.

“Directors in local authorities (33 percent), Māori organisations (23 percent), and government organisations (21 percent) anticipate shareholder or member activism having a high impact on their boards over the next two years.

“By contrast, only 9 percent of large private companies, 8 percent of not-for-profits, 9 percent of small companies, and just 2 percent of publicly-listed company directors say the same.”

Beatson said the variation in concern suggested activism was viewed less as a market-driven risk and more as a stakeholder or political dynamic, especially in entities with strong public accountability or partnership obligations.

Risk management

Boards were increasingly confident in their risk management with 69 percent saying their systems were appropriate, though some issues, such as succession planning needed more attention.

“Some emerging risks may not be getting the attention they warrant,” Beatson said.

Only 46 percent of boards regularly reviewed physical climate risks, such as storms or floods.

Just 20 percent monitored modern slavery risks, and privacy oversight remained limited, with 57 percent of directors reviewing data-protection risks.

“It seems awareness is ahead of action at this point, in some of these more recent and fast-moving areas,” Beatson said.

The 2025 Director Sentiment Survey drew on 900 responses from directors representing a cross-section of organisations, while nearly half (46 percent) were the chairs.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The price of butter fell 7.6 percent at Wednesday’s Global Dairy Auction , but what will this mean for the price consumers are paying at the supermarket?

In July, the price of butter had increased about 50 percent over the past year, pushed up by high global dairy prices.

Dairy prices fell for the seventh time in a row at the auction, with butter falling the most, but an agricultural expert told Afternoons, the public wouldn’t see a change in supermarket prices straight away.

The auction falls were partly due to a glut of dairy products as farmers produced more to capitalise on strong prices.

NZX Head Of Dairy Insights Cristina Alvarado said labour costs affected the price of butter in supermarkets, but over time, there should be a fall in butter prices.

“We need to take into account there’s a lot of cost that goes into the local supply chain, including manufacturing, and even though the ingredient itself has dropped internationally it’s only been in the last few months.

“It will take time for them to come through.”

However, Alvarado said if the prices of butter kept dropping there would be a downward pressure that would soon be seen coming through at supermarkets.

Alvarado believed New Zealanders were paying a “fair” price for butter at the supermarket.

“If we had much cheaper product it would bring horrible problems internationally for us as a lot of free trade agreements would be in conflict of that.

“In terms of what you pay for butter I would say we should probably accept it a little bit more to help our economy.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Drug maker AFT Pharmaceuticals has reported a strong first-half result with revenue up a third over the year earlier.

The company best known for its Maxigesic pain medication made a first net half profit compared with a loss the year earlier, with the businesses Australian divison being its largest generator of revenue and profit.

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

• Net profit $2.7.m vs $2.5m net loss
• Revenue $114.9m vs $86.7m
• Underlying profit $4.7m vs $1.8m loss

“We’re seeing some good, solid growth right across the board,” managing director Dr Hartley Atkinson said.

“We’re starting to get great attraction now in our global expansion, we’re selling in 85 countries around the globe.”

Atkinson said the company was continuing to invest in research and development, which was expected to pay off in the long run.

“Despite our big spend in R&D and on advancing the business, we’ve still got a really good increase – 363 percent increase in profit over the year, which is really driven by higher sales.”

AFT expected second half sales and earnings to be greater than the first half.

He said AFT was on track to deliver a full year operating profit in a range of $20m to $24m and to further advance its multi-year growth strategy.

“We continue to make good progress advancing the development of our international business hubs in markets that share similar characteristics with our highly successful Australasian operations,” he said.

“We expect our business hubs in the United Kingdom and South Africa to begin to contribute to earnings in the second half of the year, validating the potential we see in these markets and our investment in them.

“We meanwhile are seeing continuing strong interest in our development portfolio with an out-licensing agreement for our novel iron therapy secured in China, the worlds’ second largest pharma market after the end of the period. We are excited about the expanding prospects for our company.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Meal-kit company My Food Bag posted a flat half-year profit as it paid down debt, while revenue increased as it picked up more customers.

Key numbers for the half year ended 30th September compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $2.9m vs $3.0m
• Revenue $85.4m vs $82.2m
• Underlying Profit $7.2m vs $7.8m
• Gross margin 48.5% vs 49.8%
• Interim dividend 0.75 cents per share

My Food Bag chair Tony Carter said debt reduction remained an ongoing priority.

“We have successfully lowered net debt over the past 12 months from $9.7m to $5.5m at the end of September 2025,” he said.

The company delivered a slight increase in revenue at $85.4 million, but gross margins fell by 1.4 percent as the company adjusted prices more slowly than the rise in food price inflation, which it said was 4.1 percent for the year ending September 2025.

Carter said the company focused on product quality and customer satisfaction while managing cost pressures carefully.

“While the gross margin reduced year-on-year, it remained relatively stable compared to the second half of FY25,” he said.

Challenging second half expected

Chief executive Mark Winter said the company continued to diversify the offerings of its core meal kits via its My Food Bag and Bargain Box brands, and would expand into new categories.

“Beyond meal kits, we are leveraging the strength of the My Food Bag brand to expand into new categories and occasions, with our ready-made meal range and care package and gift solutions through the My Food Bag Shop attracting incremental active customers,” he said.

Winter expected market conditions to remain challenging throughout the second half of the 2026 financial year, and expected full-year profit to be broadly in line with its 2025 result of $6.3m.

“We are continuing to focus on product quality, customer experience, and operational efficiency, and we are well positioned to continue to grow and deliver to thousands of Kiwi households each week,” Winter 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

Car dealer and financier Turners Automotive posted a record first-half result as its loan book grew strongly, while margins also improved, despite subdued consumer demand.

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

• Net profit $21.9m vs $19.4m
• Revenue $219.0m vs $208.6m
• Operating earnings $34.1m vs $31m
• Interim dividend 8 cents per share

Auto retail earnings lifted on improved margins on owned stock, and a stronger commercial business.

However, Turners said financing was its biggest growth engine during the first half, with 18 percent year-on-year profit growth, and its loan book growing 13 percent.

“Delivering record profit in a challenging economic environment is a significant achievement,” Turners chair Grant Baker said.

“It reflects the strength of our diversified model and disciplined execution across every part of the business,” he said.

Its insurance business also continued to grow, with premium growth of 10 percent, and stable claims ratios.

The company was also growing its servicing and repairs business, with new partnerships with VTNZ.

Turners said despite expectations of a patchy economic recovery, the company remained well-positioned with its diversified model.

It forecast pre-tax profit of around $60 million, which could result in a full-year dividend of at least 32 cents per share, compared to 29 cents per share last year.

Group chief executive Todd Hunter said Turners had performed “exceptionally well” in the period.

“We’ve strengthened every part of our model, from sourcing and lending quality to capital efficiency,” he said.

“As the economy starts to recover, Turners is well positioned to deliver further record years, underpinned by our brand strength, motivated team, and reliable execution.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• New Zealand dollar tumbles to multi-year lows against range of currencies
• Kiwi at 13 year lows against Australian dollar, British pound, Chinese yuan
• Factors include US dollar strength, falling interest rates, avoid risk

The New Zealand dollar has fallen to multi-year lows against a broad range of currencies.

The Kiwi has fallen about 1 percent in the past day to a seven-month low against a stronger US dollar, at just below 56 US cents.

It also returned to a near 13 year low against the Australian currency, and was at 13 year lows against the British pound and the Chinese yuan. The trade weighted Kiwi, based on the value of a basket of currencies of New Zealand’s main trading partners, was touching a five year low.

ANZ currency strategists said there was a wide range of factors buffeting global currency markets.

“With Bitcoin struggling and risk appetite on the back foot, the consequences for the Kiwi and Aussie were severe,” they said in a market note.

The US dollar was broadly stronger with falling expectations of a further interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, and a move by investors for the safe haven of the greenback.

“We’re heading into very important releases in the US, so naturally there’s a bit of wait-and-see momentum, although the momentum seems to be in favour of the dollar,” said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING.

Another factor making investors wary has been the decline in the Japanese yen since the new Prime Minister Takaichi took office amid talk of a major stimulus package.

“The currency has been on a weakening trend since Takaichi won the LDP leadership vote early October and at some point the MoF [Ministry of Finance] will be forced into some currency intervention to stem the rout,” BNZ senior markets strategist Jason Wong said.

The Kiwi’s attraction has also been reduced by the weak state of the economy, the softening in dairy prices, and the likelihood of another Reserve Bank cash rate cut next week.

The New Zealand dollar is one of the most traded currencies in investment markets because it is freely tradable and its level is not regulated or set by authorities, but is prone to being sold off when investors are nervous.

A weaker Kiwi usually means better export returns but also makes imports more expensive.

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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 developer taking over the site of an iconic Wellington fruit shop has unveiled his plans to transform the building into luxury apartments.

The second-generation owners of the Eastbourne Fruit Supply are shutting up shop next June, after 65 years of operation.

Locals have been disappointed to learn the Lai family is moving on, but developer Sam Faisandier is also aware of the speculation about what’s next – and notably, how high?

The director of family-run business, the Faisandier Group, said after almost a decade of residential builds in Lower Hutt, he’s excited for the challenge ahead, not to mention the site.

“Corner sites are quite special to get your hands on, every block there’s only four of those in there, and this is probably one of one – it’s got that north-west aspect and it’s in the centre of the village, which is very tightly held.”

The final plans were still underwraps, but he had the vision – 8-10 luxury apartments above 200 square metres of commercial space – including (hopefully) a new green-grocer. Car parks were also on the cards.

The target demographic? The downsizer who wanted to stay in the area.

Faisandier said the size and location meant they’d have to be smart about the build.

“Building up in Wellington has always been challenging. There’s been a lot of under-development. So, I think fitting in with the area – four to five levels is probably where it sits best.”

But best was up for debate, with local of 38 years Margs Mills adamant the new construction shouldn’t be too high.

“Eastbourne is quite an iconic little village that we’re very lucky to live in. To be frank, two storeys high, three at a push, would be more than enough.”

The village centre had only one building higher, Rona House – a seven-floor apartment block. Mills said people love living there, but it hasn’t been without controversy.

“The plan was to have two of them, but once the first one was built – and this was years ago – everyone went nuts and said, it causes a terrible wind funnel.

“We don’t want anything very tall.”

Mills said change was inevitable but it had to be in keeping with the flavour of the village.

As for the commercial spaces below the apartments, she had some ideas.

“Certainly another green-grocer because we’re going to miss the Lais terribly.

“Some kind of gift shop would be really nice. Maybe a nice restaurant would be fantastic, a nice family restaurant.”

Eastbourne Community Board member Bruce Spedding, said he did his best to keep his finger on the pulse of the tight-knit community.

With regard to a new development, he felt the biggest concern was that it wouldn’t fit with the village character.

“Four storeys sounds fairly dramatic for Eastbourne, so it would depend on the impact that that has on the village. How the design fits in with what’s already here.”

He said there was nothing wrong with apartments, but reserved further judgment until he’d seen the plans.

Spedding said a revamped retail strip (in the ground-floor commercial space) would be pretty important, and could see it tying in with a future visitor boom brought about by a new ferry and cycleway into Wellington city.

“So all that will involve a lot more outside people coming into Eastbourne, so we want to be able to cater for that as well. It’s quite exciting, there’s a lot going to happen next year, I think.”

He said ultimately anything that supported Eastbourne businesses was a good thing.

“These things that are happening could in fact be sort of revitalising.

“Basically, what we want to do is just make it viable for what we’ve got to remain here.

“In a lot of other places, businesses are closing down and moving out and communities are losing local resources … so it’s quite a positive thing in that regard.”

Spedding said although it was no longer required in the district plan, he encouraged a community meeting so the developer could share plans and hear feedback – a proposition Faisandier was open to, once plans firmed up.

Faisandier said the company wasn’t in a rush – there were projects to finish first – and they wanted to get it right.

“Our challenge will be to blend it into the surroundings and use the right type of materials and look.

“There is a bit of special flair … I want to reuse some of the exisiting brick. So, there’s a little bit of a cherry … we’ll try and incorporate some of the materials and recycle them into the construction.”

He said all going well, the timeframe to begin work was 2027.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It’s tough for shoppers buying meat and dairy at the checkout but strong dairy payouts and higher returns for sheep and beef farmers are fuelling the early days of economic recovery.

The latest look at the state of regional economies by consultancy Infometrics confirms the recovery is underway but is still patchy with South Island regions outpacing growth seen in their North Island counterparts in the September quarter.

Nationally, economic activity rose 0.9 percent in the quarter but has not yet returned to the level it was at this time last year.

Infometrics principal economist and lead demographer Nick Brunsdon says the growth story remains a tale of two islands with all South Island regions growing faster than the national average, boosted by the strength of the primary sector.

“Encouragingly, even metro areas are starting to recover, collectively gaining 0.7 percent per annum in the September quarter, although this recovery remains slower than provincial and rural areas,” he said.

“Fonterra continues to forecast a strong dairy payout midpoint of $10 per kg of milk solids and if this figure falls, as the latest Global Dairy Trade auctions imply, farmers would still wind up with the second-highest payout on record.

“Returns for beef and lamb have increased too – at the expense of consumers buying mince – but boosting returns for dry stock farmers.

“Kiwifruit and apple growers are also earning a higher return on elevated export volumes.”

The warming of regional economies has yet to translate through to an increase in spending, he said.

Households were carefully guarding their wallets with a backdrop of continued job losses.

“Businesses are going ‘cool, orders are up, but we’re not quite at the point where we need to hire more staff’ and so they’re generally going to hold off until that order book solidifies and they get the confidence that they actually do need to add to their roster.”

On the jobs front, five South Island regions saw growth in the number of filled roles during the quarter. The West Coast led the pack with 1.6 employment percent growth.

Nationally, employment went backwards, falling 0.6 percent, with metro areas even worse off with a 0.8 percent decline.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Co-Operative Bank says it is the only bank to have passed on the full official cash rate cut to floating mortgages – but other banks say that isn’t the full story.

Since the Reserve Bank began reductions to the OCR 15 months ago, it has dropped from 5.5 percent to 2.5 percent.

Another cut is expected this month.

In response, the Co-operative Bank said it had reduced its floating home loan rate by 3.1 percentage points – or just slightly more than the drop in the OCR.

It said other banks had dropped their floating rates by between 2.55 and 2.7.

Reserve Bank data shows that advertised special fixed home loan rates have dropped over that same period from about 7 percent on average for six-month terms, 6.9 percent for one-year and 6.5 percent for two years, to 4.8 percent, 4.5 percent and 4.3 percent on average respectively.

Mark Wilkshire, chief executive of The Co-operative Bank, said, “With the bank’s floating volumes almost doubling in the last year, we’re pleased to offer both great value and flexibility through our market leading rate.

“We estimate that New Zealanders could be paying more than $100 million per annum extra due to the amount of floating rate cuts held back by the big four Australian banks,” he said.

“With another OCR review due at the end of November, it will be interesting to see how other banks respond in what remains a delicately poised economic recovery,” Wilkshire said.

He said people often did not pay a lot of attention to floating rates but the amount being paid in interest on them would add up.

“There’s $47 billion sitting out there in the banks on floating rates so it does fly a bit under the radar. We thought it was worth taking stock as we head towards the bottom of the cycle.

“How much is being passed on out of that across the whole sector? And it certainly adds up when you look at all the amount that customers have sitting on floating balances.”

But ANZ said people looking at rate changes needed to consider the full interest rate cycle.

“Through the recent interest rate cycle, following changes to the OCR (both increases and decreases), there are times when we’ve not passed on changes to the OCR in full.

“Between October 2021 and May 2023, the OCR increased by 5.25 percent. In response, ANZ increased floating home loan rates by only 4.2 percent. During this time the RBNZ increased the OCR 12 times. Following seven of those announcements ANZ did not pass on the full OCR increase. For example, following the 50-basis point OCR increase in February 2023, ANZ made no change to interest rates.

“Since August 2024 the RBNZ has cut the OCR eight times, from 5.5 percent to 2.5 percent. In response, ANZ has reduced home loan floating rates by 2.75 percent.

“In summary, when the OCR was increasing, ANZ increased home loan floating rates by 105-basis points less than the total OCR hikes. In the more recent OCR easing cycle, we have cut our floating home loan rate by 25-basis points less than the total of OCR cuts to date. That balance needs to be considered.”

It said banks had multiple lending sources and needed to consider a range of factors when deciding to make changes to the interest rates available for lending and deposits.

Reserve Bank changes would influence wholesale market interest rates but were not the only driver.

Westpac said it was working hard to provide value across all lending and savings rates.

“Around 87 percent of our home loan customers are on a fixed home loan rate, where we offer sub-5 percent special rates on all fixed terms from six months to five years – one of the only main banks to do so. Supporting this, an analysis last week by Opes Partners rated Westpac as consistently offering the lowest fixed rates of any [main] bank over the last two years.

“While we’ve cut our variable home loan rates by 2.55 percent a year since the OCR started falling, we’ve cut some business lending rates by 3.05 percent – more than the OCR has fallen – to support them to grow. To support our savings customers, we’ve passed on just 1.75 percent of OCR cuts on our 32-day Notice Saver product.”

Wilkshire said most people were still taking short-terms when they came to refix.

“The majority choice is still going for those one-year rates because they are the lowest rates. But that’s where I think a good conversation with someone who offers good service will actually look at your whole needs and see what suits you and take those circumstances into account because you do want to look at what you’re paying on floating, what you’re paying on fixed and should you be fixing for the longer term as we head towards the bottom of that cycle.

“I think rather just defaulting to the lowest rate at the moment, it is probably just worth having a broader look at the full range of your options.”

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