Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Recent property data indicates a shortage of suitably-zoned commercial and industrial land in Auckland is pushing prices to record-high levels, with would-be buyers competing for development-ready sites.

Data from realestate.co.nz showed Auckland’s industrial and commercial land values reached an average of $1190 per square metre (sqm) in the 12 months to March, which was the highest level in at least a decade.

The shortage of development sites was driving up land prices, while the average asking price for industrial buildings in Auckland rose to more than $3.5 million for the first time.

The average size of industrial properties available for sale also shrank to a record low of 1864 sqm, from 5212 sqm a decade ago.

The demand was mostly driven by domestic investors, while international activity eased over the past year.

“What we’re seeing is a structural shortage of commercial and industrial land, particularly in Auckland,” realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said.

“There simply isn’t enough development-ready land coming to market to meet demand, and that is now being reflected clearly in pricing.

Development shifts south

“This is shifting development patterns, with access to suitable sites increasingly dictating how and where projects can occur, particularly for larger-scale industrial users.

“Over time, that affects where businesses locate, how supply chains are structured, and the cost of operating across the wider economy, including the competitiveness of New Zealand’s exports.”

Drury South Crossing chief executive Stephen Hughes said the same constraints were playing out on the ground, with limited availability of large, serviced industrial sites across the wider Auckland region.

He said developments, such as Drury South Crossing, were becoming increasingly rare, with only a small number of large, industrial-zoned sites still available for purchase.

“We have sold more than 100 hectares of land at Drury South over the past five years, and with just 30 hectares remaining, we won’t be able to accommodate every requirement. Early movers can still secure a site, but the supply of greenfield industrial land at this scale across the region is becoming increasingly limited.”

Hughes said rising electricity demand was also reshaping site requirements, with many existing industrial locations unable to support modern business needs.

“It’s not just data centres, it’s everyday businesses needing more power for automation, machinery and electric vehicle fleets, and many older sites simply can’t support that without significant upgrades.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Trade Minister Todd McClay will formally sign the free trade agreement with India in New Delhi about 9pm Monday (NZT).

He has taken a delegation, including MPs from several parties, and more than 30 business representatives, and will also host a joint business summit with Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

“I’m just checking to make sure there is ink in my pen,” McClay said last week. “It’s such a significant achievement for New Zealand.

“If you think about it as 1.4 billion people in India, their wealth is growing, they are going to become the consumers of the future.

“The New Zealand economy is getting on at the ground floor of that and I think, in the future, this will be one of the most significant trade agreements to help secure our economy – but a lot of people have worked very hard to make sure we can get there.”

McClay visited India seven times as part of efforts to negotiate the deal, since the coalition took office, after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made securing such a deal an election promise during a televised debate in 2023.

Last week, Labour confirmed it would back the deal, paving the way for legislation enabling it to pass through Parliament.

The party’s support was needed by National, after New Zealand First announced – minutes before the deal itself was – the coalition party would oppose the deal.

NZ First leader Winston Peters has opposed migration aspects included in the deal, as well as a lack of wins for dairy and concerns about a clause requiring the government to promote $US20 billion of private investment in India within 15 years.

Labour’s agreement to back it came with a handful of policy concessions, and a warning the investment clause was “very unrealistic” and “almost impossible” to achieve.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins warned that could lead the Indian government to claw back the market access McClay and other officials had worked so hard to achieve.

McClay pushed back on the likelihood of that happening, saying if India decided New Zealand had not met the condition after 15 years, “they can put in place measures that are temporary and proportionate – and so it is not as significant as maybe it sounded”.

“There’s a special committee that the two parties have agreed to set up 12 months after the agreement enters into force – that is to monitor implementation of the agreement to make sure it’s working and, secondly, to continue to look for ways to improve the agreement.

“We’ll also be talking to them about the promotion that we are doing on an ongoing basis around investment, so I don’t expect there will be a challenge or a problem.”

He said the commitment was not for the government to invest that figure merely to promote investment.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis had previously expressed frustration about how long it took Labour to agree to back the deal, saying just the day before that Labour was “courting the same” anti-immigration votes as New Zealand First.

“We’ve been giving you advice for four months, we’ve had more than 20 meetings, we’ve responded to all of your requests. You’re trying to draw this out and, as I say, you’re playing into exactly the same concerns that New Zealand First is trying to whip up.

“You’re making a very political choice and I think it’s unfortunate, because what I think we should be doing on a matter like this is putting the interests of our people and our economy first.”

However, McClay was far less critical.

“No, I haven’t been frustrated by it,” he said. “I mean, it’s important to go through it, but we’ve had to do the legal scrubbing and, once that was finished, we reached agreement on a date to sign.

“It happens to have co-incided with when Labour have said they’ll give their support.”

He said Labour’s claim legal advice to the government about the deal had not been provided until last week was not entirely accurate, but refused to say how.

“You’ve got to consider their trade spokesman was in China last week. We had to wait until he was back, until he could have the meeting.”

McClay said the agreement provided huge opportunities for New Zealand exporters.

“I’m really not jumping into that,” he said. “They’ve made the right decision and I’m grateful to them.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Trade Minister Todd McClay will formally sign the free trade agreement with India in New Delhi about 9pm Monday (NZT).

He has taken a delegation, including MPs from several parties, and more than 30 business representatives, and will also host a joint business summit with Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.

“I’m just checking to make sure there is ink in my pen,” McClay said last week. “It’s such a significant achievement for New Zealand.

“If you think about it as 1.4 billion people in India, their wealth is growing, they are going to become the consumers of the future.

“The New Zealand economy is getting on at the ground floor of that and I think, in the future, this will be one of the most significant trade agreements to help secure our economy – but a lot of people have worked very hard to make sure we can get there.”

McClay visited India seven times as part of efforts to negotiate the deal, since the coalition took office, after Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made securing such a deal an election promise during a televised debate in 2023.

Last week, Labour confirmed it would back the deal, paving the way for legislation enabling it to pass through Parliament.

The party’s support was needed by National, after New Zealand First announced – minutes before the deal itself was – the coalition party would oppose the deal.

NZ First leader Winston Peters has opposed migration aspects included in the deal, as well as a lack of wins for dairy and concerns about a clause requiring the government to promote $US20 billion of private investment in India within 15 years.

Labour’s agreement to back it came with a handful of policy concessions, and a warning the investment clause was “very unrealistic” and “almost impossible” to achieve.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins warned that could lead the Indian government to claw back the market access McClay and other officials had worked so hard to achieve.

McClay pushed back on the likelihood of that happening, saying if India decided New Zealand had not met the condition after 15 years, “they can put in place measures that are temporary and proportionate – and so it is not as significant as maybe it sounded”.

“There’s a special committee that the two parties have agreed to set up 12 months after the agreement enters into force – that is to monitor implementation of the agreement to make sure it’s working and, secondly, to continue to look for ways to improve the agreement.

“We’ll also be talking to them about the promotion that we are doing on an ongoing basis around investment, so I don’t expect there will be a challenge or a problem.”

He said the commitment was not for the government to invest that figure, merely to promote investment.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis had previously expressed frustration about how long it took Labour to agree to back the deal, saying just the day before that Labour was “courting the same” anti-immigration votes as New Zealand First.

“We’ve been giving you advice for four months, we’ve had more than 20 meetings, we’ve responded to all of your requests. You’re trying to draw this out and, as I say, you’re playing into exactly the same concerns that New Zealand First is trying to whip up.

“You’re making a very political choice and I think it’s unfortunate, because what I think we should be doing on a matter like this is putting the interests of our people and our economy first.”

However, McClay was far less critical.

“No, I haven’t been frustrated by it,” he said. “I mean, it’s important to go through it, but we’ve had to do the legal scrubbing and, once that was finished, we reached agreement on a date to sign.

“It happens to have co-incided with when Labour have said they’ll give their support.”

He said Labour’s claim legal advice to the government about the deal had not been provided until last week was not entirely accurate, but refused to say how.

“You’ve got to consider their trade spokesman was in China last week. We had to wait until he was back, until he could have the meeting.”

McClay said the agreement provided huge opportunities for New Zealand exporters.

“I’m really not jumping into that,” he said. “They’ve made the right decision and I’m grateful to them.”

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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 Climate Change Commission said the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is on track to fail without reform.

In its annual advice to the government, the commission warned that the scheme faces huge future volatility and would fail without reform by the 2030s.

The ETS is a market in which the government sets a price for greenhouse gas that polluters must pay to emit. The price of units rises over time, incentivising firms to emit less.

The commission has advised the government this year to keep auction unit pricing and volumes the same to prevent price instability.

However, chief executive Jo Hendy said a unit shortfall as early as 2028 could see price spikes and significant economic harm.

She said that could result in factory closures to reduce emissions, rather than investment in decarbonisation.

The government could get ahead of the shortfall by publicly consulting on options to address it, she said.

Forest and Bird fears the scheme will soon be unfit for purpose.

Climate spokesperson Scott Burnett said the market had lost confidence in it, due to recent volatility in prices and recent government policy announcements, such as rolling back action on agricultural emissions.

He said it urgently needed reform and stability to allow businesses to make good investment decisions on decarbonisation.

The Climate Change Commission had been sounding the alarm on the fragile state of the ETS for years, he said.

Climate minister Simon Watts told RNZ in a statement that the government welcomed the commission’s advice, and it would carefully consider that before developing proposals for the ETS auction and unit settings.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Friends That Invest founder Simran Kaur recently told her online networks that she had retired at age 29.

She said she worked out that she should be able to do so when she could draw down enough from investments to cover her annual expenses at around $150,000 a year.

She was not available for media interviews but said she was still working on the business – but out of choice rather than need.

It’s a situation that influencer Zephan Clark is hoping to find himself in by the time he’s 50. The 24-year-old is currently working on a disciplined financial strategy focused on consistent, long-term investing.

“I’m trying to make the money I have work for me. Retirement to me is not necessarily stopping work, but it’s more so having enough money aside or money and investments to pay for the living expenses and everything that life costs, just so I can https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/588776/reverse-mortgage-or-retirement-village-which-will-give-you-the-retirement-you-want have more freedom].”

He said he had picked up all of his investment knowledge online. “Scaling my income is a big one because, you know, the more income you have, the more you can obviously invest. Anybody can invest. You can invest with $20 a week, right?

“Obviously the more consistent you are and, and the more aggressive you are at a young age – I’m only 24 – hopefully the better returns you can possibly get.”

He said he had 8 percent or 10 percent growth per year in his investments so far and was happy with the prospect that some years were down and some up. “As long as I’m beating inflation I’m pretty happy with my return.”

Clark said he was relatively frugal with his other expenses while he worked towards his goal.

“I don’t go out on the weekends, although sometimes I do, I might go out with some of my friends … I’m more aware that I could spend money on silly things like Uber Eats and so I’m like, no, I have food at home, right? And then boom, now I have some, a bit more money to invest every week.”

Research from Stake showed almost half of New Zealanders aged 18 to 24 thought owning assets was more important to getting ahead than having a high salary.

But if your goal is to retire at 40, 50 or even 60, you might be wondering how much money you need to be able to do that.

University of Auckland senior finance lecturer Gertjan Verdickt said a good way to work it out would be to think about how much you need to spend.

Someone who wanted to fund 30 years of retirement, not including any impact of NZ Super, would need an amount 25 times their annual spending. For 40 years, they would need 28 times and for 50 years, 31 times, he said.

This calculation does not include NZ Super, which at the moment would add about $30,000 in income to a single person living alone, before tax, once they were 65.

It means that someone who wants to be able to retire at 40 and live until 90 would need to save $2.3 million, not accounting for NZ Super.

Ralph Stewart, founder of Lifetime Retirement Income, ran the numbers taking the mid-point between the median wage and average wage after tax each year of $66,000, plus inflation of 2.5 percent.

He assumed someone retiring at 50 would want 80 percent of that amount each year until they were 60, then 70 percent of it until they were 75 percent and then 60 percent to age 95.

“Ignoring Super, he would need at age 50 about $1.5 million, at age 55 $1.25 million, at age 60 $950,000 and at age 65, $700,000.”

Including NZ Super, from 65 he would need $500,000 and at 70 would need $400,000 to achieve that income level.

Stewart said those calculations included a small amount of inflation and it could be higher.

“What we try to say to people, rather than work out what the sum is, work out what you think you’re going to have and bung it into our calculator or Sorted’s calculator and it’ll tell you. So you solve for how much you need to live on, not how much capital you have … we find most people, 30 percent or 40 percent more than NZ Super is about the average we solve for.”

He said 80 percent of 60 year olds were still working and 40 percent of 70-year-olds. Only about 2 percent of people would not be working at 50. “It’s a fun thing to think about but it’s not realistic. Don’t get scared.”

Actuaries often talk about a 4 percent rule, which means that people can draw down 4 percent of their investments in a year. But Verdickt said it could be inefficient even when it worked.

He said research had shown funding constant spending with volatile investments meant retirees typically died with 10 percent to 20 percent of their initial wealth unspent, plus another 2 percent to 4 percent lost to paying too much for the spending pattern itself.

“The practical takeaway isn’t to throw out the multiplier approach – it’s still the right heuristic, but to note that rigidly spending the same real amount every year is the real flaw. Retirees who flex their spending down a bit in bad markets can often get away with a smaller nest egg than the multipliers above suggest.”

Opes Partners chief economist Ed McKnight said another option was the rule of 6 percent.

“This is where you need 16.7 times your income to retire early. So on $50,000 that’s $835,000. The catch with this though is that you can’t increase your spending with the cost of living. So you need to be more careful.”

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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 mechanical issue on the Auckland Airport runway forced several flights to be diverted on Saturday morning.

Air New Zealand’s chief risk and safety officer Nathan McGraw said the plane had a fault with its braking system.

“Flight NZ81 from Auckland to Hong Kong experienced a technical issue with the braking system when positioning for take-off at the end of the runway this morning.

“The aircraft is being towed from the runway where customers will disembark and the aircraft will be assessed by our engineers.”

A witness told 1News smoke had appeared as the aircraft was taxiing before taking off.

The fault caused several arriving international flights to temporarily divert into a holding pattern while the runway was cleared.

A spokesperson said operations are now returning to normal.

Flights are now landing, but some have had their arrivals delayed by over 30 minutes.

McGraw said customers would be reaccommodated on an alternative aircraft.

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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 sale of small- and medium-sized businesses continues to increase along with prices, though there’s been a shift in the mix of buyers and sellers.

ABC Business Sales managing director Chris Small said demographic data was showing unexpected trends.

• About 60 percent of sellers are not baby boomers.
• 47 percent of purchasers are more than 46 years old.
• Demographic change as NZ Europeans make up 67 percent of sellers, with Indians, Asians and other ethnicities making up 47 percent of buyers.
• Completed business sales have reached a record 514 in the year ended March 2026 – up 21 percent on 2025.
• AI’s effect on future job security has emerged as a reason for new purchasers to buy a business.
• Wholesale & distribution businesses attract the highest average price ($1.58 million), followed by agribusinesses ($1.36m) while hospitality attracts the lowest average price ($245,000).

Small said the outlook for sales growth would be guided by the number of listings, which was expected to remain little changed over the year to March 2027.

He said business owners were expected to hold back on going to market until earnings improved, perhaps in the second half of the year.

“We also believe the election and the Iran war will result in a slowing down of business sales over the next six months,” he said.

“Demand represented by volumes of signed confidentiality agreements will continue to increase, but at more subdued rates of 5-10 percent vs the 25-30 percent of the last two years.

“The historical drivers of immigration and unemployment are both forecast to decline in the next 12 months.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Energy company OMV has put a possible end date on gas production at the Maui gas field.

The Austrian-based company’s latest annual report notes it informed the government gas production at Maui was expected to finish at the end of this year.

PwC’s Energy team managing director Aaron Webb said the field’s decline had been long signalled, with government officials previously forecasting a likely end to production in 2027.

“Maui’s closure is another sign that New Zealand is now transitioning away from gas,” Webb said.

He said one of the key issues to come from it was whether Taranaki-based methanol producer Methanex would leave as a result of the announcement.

“The two are tied together quite closely in terms of Methanex being a key purchaser of Maui’s gas, so we may see a lot smaller gas market in the next year.”

In a statement to RNZ, an OMV spokesperson said: “OMV confirms that the Māui gas field, which has been in operation for nearly 50 years, is approaching the end of its productive life. However, no final decisions have been made regarding the timing.

“Despite substantial investments in recent years aimed at extending the field’s viability, official disclosures indicate a significant decline in gas output.”

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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 new version of the TVNZ plus streaming platform has left thousands of customers unable to access it.

The update would allow the state owned broadcaster to charge for sports events, and offer greater personalisation for viewers, but means users with older televisions were now shut out.

While TVNZ claimed the switch was seamless for most of its 800,000 accounts, support had officially ended for 2015/2016 Samsung TVs, prompting a wave of social media complaints.

Consumer’s technical specialist Nick Gelling told Nine to Noon, monetisation of services was driving a lot of digital design.

But, Gelling said this could come at the expense of consumers who were dealing with reduced reliability as a result.

Gelling said he didn’t know the numbers of how many customers had been impacted but with 800,000 accounts, it could easily be in the tens of thousands.

“It’s best practice to give lots of notice [before an update]… there’s been some confusion over which devices are supported and which aren’t.

“It’s been a bit rushed and maybe the changes haven’t been communicated well enough.”

When an upgrade to an app was designed for advertisers rather than viewers, Gelling said it was “not great for the public trust”.

For anyone who found they could no longer access the app on their television, Gelling said on work around that would be cheaper than a newer TV would be getting a plug in device for streaming.

“Load TVNZ onto that and you should be good to go,” he said.

In a statement, TVNZ said the majority of users found the transition straightforward and access for all viewers was a priority.

Given the rate of growth of the platform, it said a replatform of the technology was necessary and it had been a “massive, self-funded investment”.

“Ahead of the change we carried out extensive user testing. But with any large-scale re-platform, it’s expected that issues will emerge when you pull the trigger.”

TVNZ said its teams were ready for this and updates were being rolled out daily.

TVNZ+ would no longer be accessible for 2015/2016 Samsung TV models, it said, as it could no longer be supported safely and reliably.

“While the new platform gives us the ability to offer paid content in future, this replatform is fundamentally about modernising ageing infrastructure.

“We’re working hard to address issues as quickly as possible, and the service will continue to stabilise and improve.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Many of New Zealand’s mid-sized businesses are yet to realise a return on investment in AI.

A survey of 500 business leaders commissioned by business software firm MYOB indicates New Zealand was lagging behind Australia in realising productivity gains from AI-driven processes.

“Larger businesses continue to pull ahead because smaller firms haven’t built as robust a foundation across the key pillars that strengthen the gains from AI, such as integrated data systems, digitised core processes, structured training, and clearer guardrails,” MYOB executive general manager Paul Voges said.

“New Zealand’s mid-sized businesses have consistently shown real ambition and appetite when it comes to lifting performance with technology. What the data shows is that unlocking real productivity gains requires all the foundational elements to combine. At the moment, the engine is firing on only half its cylinders.”

The report indicates Australian firms were doing a better job of combining five pillars for success: processes, data, AI strategy, AI governance and workforce capability.

“A business with solid data but low workforce capability, or AI tools without the appropriate governance, is not future-ready, it’s partially prepared and still heavily constrained.” Voges said.

“Too many mid-sized firms are being held back not by a lack of appetite for AI, but the work to improve the foundations that sit underneath.”

The data also indicates many local businesses were struggling with cybersecurity and data privacy concerns (43 percent), followed by skills and change capacity (40 percent) and governance, risk and compliance (32 percent).

About a third (30 percent) said cloud and integration readiness was a barrier, and nearly as many said a lack of standardised processes was holding them back.

“What we’re seeing across the data from an overarching A/NZ view is that those businesses using legacy systems appear to be getting less out of AI, with these businesses overwhelmingly reporting time savings as the key benefit,” he said.

“Those with AI embedded in core systems are reporting stronger and more commercially significant impacts, like revenue growth and improved profit margins, alongside significant time savings.”

Investment in key pillars drives productivity gains

Voges said businesses with investment in the underlying foundation for AI were seeing commercial returns.

In addition to time saved (46 percent), almost a third (30 percent) of decision-makers believed AI had contributed to increased revenue or sales growth and 27 percent reported improved profit margins, though the proportion enjoying financial benefits rose alongside the size of the business.

More than one-in-three (37 percent) businesses with 100+ employees reported improved profit margins, compared with just 11 percent of those with between 20 and 49 employees. The same divide showed up across broader performance measures.

“The opportunity now is to enable more of New Zealand’s mid-sized businesses to close the gap, access those same gains and drive true productivity,” Voges said.

“These businesses are a vital part of New Zealand’s economy and if we can help more of them get the foundations right, the flow-on benefits for the wider economy could be significant.”

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