Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Finally, some good news for butter lovers: Global prices are falling.

But there remains some bad news: Any fall in the price you see at the supermarket is not likely to be as fast, or as large, as the increase you experienced when prices were on the way up.

The price of butter has been one of the big consumer issues of this year.

In July, the price of butter was up about 50 percent over a year.

In October, Stats NZ said the average price of a 500g block of butter was $8.50, up from $6.67 a year earlier and $4.83 in 2024.

But butter prices fell about 12 percent in the most recent global auction and are down a third from the peak.

Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen said that meant that retail prices were likely to fall, “but likely not nearly as quickly as they went up”.

He said Stats NZ data already showed a flattening of prices. In August, 500g was $8.58.

“You’ve started to see the early effects of the price boost coming off. The difficulty is you’ll have a whole range of factors coming in there.”

He said some butter contracts would have been locked in when prices started to increase.

“They now need to get through that stock that was already in there … there will be a whole lot of contracting elements, I expect, that were in there. That’s often why you find it easier for prices to go up but not come down quite as quickly.”

Foodstuffs said that was the situation for its supermarkets. “Changes in global prices don’t flow through to the checkouts immediately. There is a lag because we lock in butter supply contracts on a quarterly basis. These help create certainty for suppliers and stability for customers, avoiding week-to-week price swings. As each contract rolls over, any shifts in commodity prices are then reflected in the prices customers see on shelf.

“The biggest part of the price customers pay at the checkout is the price we’re charged by suppliers and we work hard to buy well and run our business efficiently so we can keep prices as low as possible.”

He said New World and Pak’nSave in the North Island had been selling Pams butter at a loss for the last two-and-a-half years.

But he said there was also more dairy available now than previously, which should mean downward pressure on prices. “It’s not huge, but you are now seeing the largest increase in global dairy supply, at least from major exporters, in about three years. So there is a bit more of expansion coming through there.”

He said it would also be challenging for prices to fall because people had become accustomed to the higher price.

“So that does sort of set a bit of a new normal for what people are clearly willing to pay. I guess it depends on how much people have changed their consumption. Another data point that isn’t butter, but potentially gives you a bit of a view on it is what’s happened in the last couple of years to olive oil prices, which of course skyrocketed quite a bit.

“They’ve now started to pull back quite a bit as well, nowhere near back to what they were before the big spike, but they are definitely on the downward decline. That did seem to take quite a bit after you started to see olive oil future prices start to pull back for retail prices to then follow. And it does suggest sometimes some of the changes on the pullback side can take sort of up to six months to really start to show through just because of all of those contracts that are locked in and sort of pricing changes that will happen.”

A spokesperson for Woolworths said the global dairy trade auction was only one factor that went into the price of butter.

“We are also seeing the NZ dollar weaken versus the USD. This affects pricing as the GDT auctions are conducted in USD. These factors are reviewed quarterly by suppliers, therefore our retail price is set quarterly.

“We did see some global price relief on butter last month and this meant we could pass on lower prices to Kiwi customers across all major brand butter. We know it’s a tough time for Kiwi households and we’re working hard to keep butter prices as low as possible, for as long as possible.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland and Wellington remain the parts of the country with prices furthest from their peak – but one property investor says one is looking more undervalued than the other at the moment.

Cotality has released its latest data, which shows a 0.1 percent lift in values for New Zealand in November.

The national median now sits at $806,551, which is 17.4 percent below the early 2022 peak and only 1.1 percent higher than June 2023’s trough.

But within that data, the picture is mixed.

Auckland is 22.9 percent below its peak, down 2.2 percent year-on-year and down 0.2 percent in the month.

Hamilton is down 11.4 percent from peak but up 0.3 percent year-on-year and 0.7 percent in the month.

Tauranga is down 15.2 percent from the peak and up 1.2 percent year-on-year.

Wellington is down 25.1 percent from the peak and down 1.8 percent over a year but up 0.1 percent for the month.

Christchurch is only 3.8 percent below its peak and up 2.6 percent over a year.

Dunedin is down 10.8 percent from its price peak and up 0.2 percent in a year.

“Property values across the country were patchy over May to August as households and firms remained in a cautious mood,” Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said.

“September and October brought a few signs of life for values, but November just eased off a little bit again Clearly, the falls in mortgage rates we’ve seen lately would point to a bit more upside for property values as we get into 2026, not least because a range of housing affordability measures have also improved back closer to their long-term averages. But the subdued November property value data suggests that this process continues to take a bit of time to get started.”

He said the number of houses for sale remained higher than normal for this time of year.

“Many buyers will still be feeling that they’re in the box-seat when it comes to price negotiations. At the same time, while the economy is showing some encouraging signs, the unemployment rate is still a concern and jobs growth is yet to kick into gear. On balance, the fundamentals seem to be moving towards growth in property values next year. But right now, we remain in a holding pattern.”

Davidson said if Auckland was removed from the national figures, there would have been increases in value in recent months.

“The flatness of the national figure is sort of an Auckland story – Auckland lagging behind everyone else.”

He said November was the eighth month in a row that Auckland’s property values had declined.

“That’s after a smaller, cumulative rise of 1.6 percent in the seven months to March this year. In other words, Tāmaki Makaurau continues to lag many other parts of the country, and this is weighing on the national median. Buyer caution and a relatively high supply of property are relevant factors here,” he said.

He said economic confidence in Auckland was a bit slower to improve.

“It doesn’t have the same lift from things like farming and agriculture, it’s more service-based so that’s going to be a bit of restraint on Auckland’s housing market.

“Then also the supply factor, there’s a decent pipeline of townhouses coming on to the Auckland market – listings are still in favour of buyers… I think these things help explain the slight lag in Auckland’s market. There just seems to be a bit of a malaise around Auckland at the moment. Will we see it come back? At some stage for sure. It’s the biggest economy, it’s where a lot of job creation comes from and I guess a lot of our economic growth really through parts of the cycle. It’ll come back but it does show you that supply and demand can play a role

“And we’ve seen Christchurch over the years has had a good rise in supply, and it’s kept a bit of a lid on housing affordability or house price growth. And we’re seeing the same in Auckland now.”

He said most other main centres were up more significantly, as well as many provincial markets. “We see continued growth in Invercargill and that next tier down of towns and cities.”

Property investment coach Steve Goodey said he thought Auckland as probably undervalued.

Many Auckland properties were selling with good rental yields, he said, and falling interest rates gave investors more room to buy.

“I’m not ready to start saying there’s FOMO in the market but there’s certainly a lot of upward pressure on some properties. Well presented stuff is moving and moving quite quickly.”

He said Wellington was different.

“It’s very depressed. There are heaps of listings and rents have been dropping, they’ve stopped dropping as hard but they’ve dropped quite some way. Wellington has an awful lot of problems at the moment, there are so many issues that aren’t being addressed, aren’t being fixed, it’s creating a lot of opportunity but anyone who bought in 2021 has massively overpaid and is probably stuck with that property.

“Wellington I don’t think has been overdeveloped, it’s just been abandoned to a degree. Tourism we’re not getting any more, immigration we’re not getting any more, students we’re not getting anymore. Property is available and it’s become a buyer and renter’s market.”

Investors had started to come back into the market in the capital, 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

Investors who have to sell their cryptocurrency for a loss may be able to claim tax back from Inland Revenue (IRD).

IRD has made it clear that people who are trading cryptocurrency should pay tax on their gains.

In July last year IRD signalled it was honing in on people buying and selling crypto who were not declaring their income.

It had identified had 227,000 unique crypto asset users in New Zealand undertaking around 7 million transactions with a value of $7.8 billion.

Last week, accountant Tim Doyle, who specialises in cryptocurrency, told Checkpoint nearly a third of his clients had received letters from IRD calling in tax they owe.

But the value of cryptocurrencies can be very volatile. In the past year, Bitcoin hit a record high – then fell sharply. It is down about 16 percent over the past month.

Deloitte cryptocurrency expert Ian Fay said anyone who bought at the peak of the market and then had to sell could claim a loss in their tax return.

People were taxed on the proceeds minus the cost of the asset and if the cost was more than the sale proceeds, it would count as a loss. “If you bought a few months ago hoping to make a quick buck and need the money you might have to liquidate, and could have a loss.”

But he said it would only be people who sold their assets at a lower price than they paid for them that could claim the loss. People who had suffered a drop in the value of their portfolio but not liquidated might feel worse off but had not generated a loss for tax purposes.

People who bought a few years ago and sold today would pay tax on the proceeds, even if the gain was not as large as it might have been a few months ago.

Many crypto investors held their assets for a long time, he said, and were used to the swings in value. “It goes up, it comes down. It’s still a very volatile asset class.”

Fay said it was important to note that more people were investing in cryptocurrency funds, which were taxed differently. International exchange-traded cryptocurrency funds would usually be taxed under the foreign investment fund (FIF) rules, not as personal property.

Fay said Inland Revenue had dispelled a myth that people could hold on to their assets for a long time to avoid tax on capital gains. Because bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies did not offer income, it determined that people who bought them were doing so with the intention of selling them eventually, so the gains would usually be taxable.

He said some people might think their crypto trading was flying under the radar but Inland Revenue had increased access to data that would enable it to identify transactions.

Even transactions between different cryptocurrencies could generate gains that needed to be taxed, 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

A market “surprised” by the government has failed to buy a single carbon unit at the final Emissions Trading Scheme auction of the year.

Not a single bidder registered for Wednesday’s auction, making 2025 the second calendar year in which all four quarterly ETS auctions have failed.

The first was 2023.

The managing director of commodities broker Marex, Nigel Brunel said recent climate policy announcements were “primarily responsible” as they signalled that the government was backtracking on climate change.

Emitters captured within the ETS still have to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions – but at the moment it is significantly cheaper to buy carbon units from elsewhere, such as forestry owners.

The minimum price carbon units could be sold for in the auction was $68, but emitters have been able to buy units elsewhere for as little as $40 recently.

Brunel said the market had been spooked most recently by the government’s decision in November to ‘de-couple’ the ETS from New Zealand’s Paris Agreement pledges.

“They could have done it quite differently, instead of just going, ‘Surprise!'”

Markets “hate uncertainty”, he said.

“It was announced without a lot behind it, [or] the rationale for doing it, so it gave the market concern that there were changes happening to the ETS that weren’t well-telegraphed – and the market reacted accordingly.”

However, the market had been weak all year.

“There’s been a number of things that have fed into it…. The fact that [the government] reduced the methane target, the fact that mandatory reporting requirements were weakened, just the continual mantra that we’re not going to do anything in offshore mitigation to meet our [2030 Paris target] kind of sent the signal to the marketplace that …the government was weakening overall on climate change policy,” Brunel said.

That had not been helped by “quips from minor parties that we should withdraw from Paris”.

The units from all 2025 auctions will now be cancelled out of the ETS, meaning they will not be available to emitters in subsequent years.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The Horse of the Year show in Hawke’s Bay has been cancelled for 2026 due to a lack of financial support.

Held at the Hastings Showgrounds every March, it’s one of the largest equestrian events in the Southern Hemisphere, bringing in millions of dollars to the Hawke’s Bay economy.

Organisers said the decision was made by their board, shareholders Hastings District Council and Equestrian Sports New Zealand.

“Our small team has chased every avenue possible to secure financial support to meet sustained cost pressures that come alongside reduced commercial and trade partnership revenue.

“We are not alone in this struggle – numerous large scale entertainment all over the country have been cancelled in recent months. Without that financial buffer, we just don’t feel we can deliver the event to the standard expected of New Zealand’s premier equestrian show,” a spokesperson said.

Event organisers said they had to make the call now because December 1 was when schedules were due to go out and tickets went on sale.

“This is as devastating for our team as it is for everyone who loves the show as much as we do, but we will be back!

“Thank you to everyone who continues to support our show. We appreciate each and every one of you and let’s all look forward to hearing the HOY anthem ‘Stand up for the Champions’ in 2027.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer: If you’ve heard talk of open banking in recent weeks, you might have wondered exactly what it is.

It’s been a topic of discussion in the finance sector for years, and is often touted as a way that New Zealanders could get a better deal on their banking.

But how does it really work?

What is open banking anyway?

Basically, open banking means data is shared easily between banks and other financial services providers.

This means transactions can happen more freely and it’s easier for customers to use services from different places.

The exchange of information happens via application programming interfaces (APIs).

Payments NZ has been developing API standards with the industry.

At the moment, there are three key standards to be aware of. The payment initiation API allows customers to set up payments from their accounts through a website, app or registered third-party.

The account information API allows third-party users to access specific information about the customers’ account, and the event notification API allows third parties to be told about changes in the status of a customer’s consent – such as when they no longer want their information shared.

Why do we want this?

The hope is that it will create more competition because it will be easier for consumers to shop around for better products and services.

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said it could help develop more useful budgeting tools, options for fast mortgage comparisons and new payment methods.

People might be able to receive more accurate information from comparison sites, using their actual data and could switch banks almost instantly.

Mortgage applications could be a lot easier if the data could be automatically gathered in one place.

“Budgeting becomes easier too. Instead of trawling through statements, secure open banking tools can highlight spending patterns, help you stay on top of bills, and identify ways to reach your savings goals,” Simpson said.

“Small businesses will also benefit from more choice in financial management and invoicing tools, helping them get paid faster and access innovative, lower-cost payment solutions.”

Claire Matthews, a banking expert at Massey University, said a lot of the innovations were already available. BNZ’s Payap was an example of new payments systems for businesses, Volley allowed people to make payments securely, Dosh and Revolut were fintechs coming into the market and SortMe and BudgetBuddie were offering easier personal financial management.

Payments NZ noted that Volley recently partnered with Givealittle as a payment option.

“Seeing New Zealanders embrace open banking so quickly through Givealittle has been really encouraging. Donations are such a powerful human expression of generosity, and people are likely to give more when the process is simple, fast, and trustworthy,” Jack Callister, Volley co-founder said.

“With Volley, all someone needs to do is tap or scan a QR code, approve the payment in their banking app, and they’re done. Making payments easy and secure is exactly what open banking is designed to achieve.”

What’s open banking been used for overseas?

Open banking is used in a number of ways overseas.

Australian customers of Sharesies allow it to access their bank accounts and round up every transaction to a pre-selected amount and invest the difference.

In the UK, Little Birdie is a subscription and bill management app that spots unused subscriptions. The Snoop budgeting app helps provide information on upcoming bills so people know how much they need to set aside.

What’s changed now?

From 1 December, regulations took effect that mean ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac are required to have open banking systems in place.

The regulations require that data can only be shared with the customer’s explicit authorisation, and all businesses that access the information must be accredited by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

MBIE is now accepting applications from organisations wanting to become accredited data requesters. Accredited data requesters will be identified with MBIE’s “trust mark for accreditation”.

What concerns are there?

A big concern has been how slow New Zealand has been to adopt open banking.

Consumer NZ investigative writer Ruairi O’Shea said the organisation was a big fan of open banking technology.

“Open banking puts consumers – not their banks – in charge of who can access their financial information, opening the door for third parties to provide a range of new services from budgeting tools and subscription management apps, to being able to instantly demonstrate the affordability of a loan.

“As consumers are better able to understand their money, and to shop around for services, banks will be forced to up their game if they want to maintain customers, leading to greater competition and better service.

“Consumers in other jurisdictions have had access to open banking for years, and improved financial wellbeing as a result – New Zealanders deserve this too.”

O’Shea said open banking was safe.

“Service providers must meet security requirements to be accredited to provide open banking services. The risk is that consumers, who are now being told that it is okay to give new businesses access to their financial data, could be tricked into providing access to scammers. If you have any doubts about open banking, or a business providing open banking services, contact your bank before providing access to your financial information.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Westpac NZ is offering interest-free, home loan top-ups to improve the resilience of homes to natural hazards and extreme weather.

The five-year interest-free home loan of up to $50,000 would cover such things as installing ground moisture barriers under homes, improving drainage on properties and carrying out work to raise outdoor electrical appliances above potential flood levels.

It said a recent survey of nearly 1100 Westpac customers indicated 60 percent were concerned about the risks of flooding and severe weather events on their property, while 80 percent were concerned about the risks to their town or city.

Westpac managing director for product, sustainability & marketing Sarah Hearn said the bank was the first to offer risk mitigation measures as part of its sustainable home lending programme.

“New Zealand has always had extreme weather, but recent research from Earth Sciences NZ shows these events are now happening more frequently,” she said.

Programme to be expanded in February

Westpac will expand the programme from 2 February to include major work options, such as raising a house above potential flood levels and chimney removal.

“We’re also working with our business customers to help them to invest in resilience measures and assess the impacts of climate change on their operations,” Hearn said.

Westpac’s Greater Choices home-loan top-up programme already supported investment in energy efficiency improvements, such as heat pumps, ventilation, solar power systems and electric vehicles.

Westpac NZ 2025 sustainability update highlights

• Committed $7.6 billion in sustainable lending as at 30 September 2025
• Provided more than $730 million in lending to affordable housing
• Fundraised a record $1.5m for NZ’s rescue helicopters through the annual Westpac Chopper Appeal
• Delivered financial education to more than 13,000 workshop attendees
• Invested $11.6m in New Zealand communities, including more than 35,000 hours of volunteer leave to staff
• Increased fraud prevention rates by 27 percent.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Insolvencies rise in third quarter, but down on year ago
• Failures reflect economic “game of two halves”
• Signs of economic improvement, but outlook bleak for weak companies
• Creditors finishing off companies that cannot survive
• Construction biggest insolvency group, hospitality second

The number of companies going broke has increased in recent months as creditors take a harsh view, but they are down on a year ago amid signs of economic recovery.

The latest report from BWA Insolvency for the September quarter showed a 5 percent rise in the number of insolvencies to 777 on the previous quarter, but down 6 percent on the same period in 2024.

BWA Insolvency principal Bryan Williams said the number of insolvencies reflected an economic “game of two halves”.

“On one side, you’ve got irrepressible forward-looking indicators-share prices rising, real estate agents bouncing back, building permits up, and even ready-mix concrete demand forecasts improving.”

“But then there’s the other half: companies weighed down by cost inflation, credit tightening, and enforcement for unpaid taxes.”

“For those burdened with debt that earnings can’t service, the future is bleak,” Williams said.

Creditors opt for healthy destruction

There was a clear hardening of attitudes among creditors, which he called healthy destruction, Williams said.

“Creditors are accelerating the exit of firms that can’t recover. It’s a harsh reality, but it’s shaping the market.”

There was still a reasonable number of companies to fail even as economic conditions improved, he said.

“There is still alI those companies hanging on by the end of their fingers, and that’s quite a pipeline, I imagine it will be well into the third quarter of next year before we see a downturn in actual liquidations.”

Construction remained the industry with the most insolvencies, 192 in the quarter, a slight reduction on the previous and a year ago.

“Although it appears over represented in insolvency data, its failings are proportionally low compared to its economic weight, especially when you compare it to sectors like hospitality, which runs a close second in insolvency stakes but contributes far less to GDP.”

The sector with the biggest insolvency increase was transport and delivery, followed by manufacturing, and food and beverage which were being squeezed variously by rising costs and soft demand, issues which were structural and not cyclical.

The economic signs were looking more positive overall, Williams said.

However, he lamented that administration, a ring fencing of a company to try to find a solution to its financial troubles, was barely used in this country.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Only two sectors have not experienced a reduction in their wages in real terms over the past year, data shows.

While inflation was running at a 3 percent annual rate in the year to September, wage inflation increased at a rate of 2.1 percent – or 2.4 percent for those in the public sector.

Using labour cost index data, only local government administration roles had an increase in pay once inflation adjusted, in the year, up 0.3 percent, and health care and social services were just above zero.

Everyone else ended the year worse off on average.

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said there had been a long period where wages had not increase as much in the local government sector, so there was an element of catch-up happening.

“They are trying to do more with everything going on with the infrastructure, water and everything. And they’ve had to hire people from the private sector, essentially.”

Wages in healthcare had been boosted through collective agreements taking effect but that was another sector that had gone through periods of convergence, where wages caught up, and then fell behind again, he said.

There had not been as much of a need for businesses to pay higher wages in the past couple of years, and many had not been able to, he said.

“Their profits are under pressure and they don’t need to because we’re desperate for any vacancies that are available and you’re grateful to have a job. This is the classic of a weak economy. Part of the adjustment happens to the labour force, either through a combination of reduced hours, job losses and changes in wage structures. And this recession we’ve seen mainly reduced hours and wage inflation being very contained.”

Wage rises were likely to be modest next year, too, because of the competition for vacancies, Eaqub said.

“The early part of the recovery will come from increases in hours worked rather than increases in hiring, because compared to previous economic cycles, we haven’t shared as many workers as we normally would. The unemployment rate hasn’t peaked as high as in previous cycles.

“The early part of the recovery will not require new recruitment, rather just winding up the hours. And so until we get into that highly competitive labour market, wage inflation won’t accelerate sharply, but it will happen. And my expectation is towards the second half of next year, we’re going to stop complaining about not having enough sales and start complaining about not having enough workers.”

He said that was because the working age population was not likely to grow quickly because there was little immigration happening.

“That tap is going to take a while to wind up because that always lags the cycles.”

BNZ chief economist Mike Jones said businesses had been saying they intended to hire more staff over the coming year.

“We’re now seeing job ads start to lift in tandem. What we haven’t seen yet is evidence of that coming through in actual employment growth. Prospects for next year look more encouraging though as confidence in a broadening economic recovery grows. The labour market does tend to lag other economic indicators.

“We’re forecasting solid levels of employment growth from the first quarter of 2026. But I think key will be how this matches off against growth in labour supply. It may not be until the second half of the year that pace of hiring is sufficient to soak up the labour market capacity that currently exists. That’s when the unemployment rate will start to come down and for many it will feel like an economic recovery. We’re forecasting the unemployment rate to remain above 5 percent until the second half of 2026.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

New rules will make gift cards more generous – but not until next year, and shoppers are being warned to be wary this Christmas.

From March next year, gift cards will be required to have an expiry date not less than three years from the date the card was sold.

But the law change only takes effect for cards sold from that point so people are being warned to check the terms and conditions of any they buy this month.

National MP Dan Bidois said during the final reading of the bill to enact the change that people in New Zealand could be losing anything from $20-$40m in unused gift cards every year.

Consumer had been pushing for a five-year expiry date but said the three-year rule was a win for consumers. It said gift cards could be nothing more than a “gift to the retailer” if the expiry date was short and people did not have time to use them.

Consumer NZ spokesperson Abby Damen said the law change was the result of “years of campaigning” to end unfair gift card expiry dates.

The change brings us in line with Australia.

But in Australia, shoppers have been warned about “activation” rules. It was reported that a man was caught out when he did not activate gift cards given to him by his employer in time.

He was told the cards had to be activated within six months of being issued. The Australian regulator said gift card laws should void any terms and conditions that reduced a gift card expiry to less than the three years Australia’s law required.

The same should apply here, Damen said.

“If a retailer attempts to claim gift cards have to be activated within a certain time frame, we think this would breach the Fair Trading Act. However, the new rules don’t apply to all gift cards. For example, if you return something to a store and are issued a credit note or gift card, this doesn’t have to be valid for three years so be sure to read the fine print,” Damen said.

“While we’re thrilled to see a minimum three-year expiry on gift cards from next year, nothing truly beats gifting cash – no strings attached.”

Some cards are excluded from the rule change, including a voucher supplied when items are returned, a public transport voucher, a debit card that allows cash withdrawals or loyalty programme cards.

Consumer Protection advises that is may be a good idea to buy vouchers that can be used at more than one shop, and check how it can be redeemed.

It also said people should buy vouchers by credit card so that if the business went into liquidation soon afterwards the transaction could be reversed. Voucher-holders are often out of pocket when a business fails.

It said gift vouchers should not have any additional fees or charges, although Prezzy Cards did have a fee.

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