Category: Business

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch tech company has opened a potentially groundbreaking metal refining facility, which can extract zinc and other critical minerals from industrial byproducts.

The 2500-square-metre facility by clean-tech firm Zethos is aimed at large-scale demonstration, with the company hoping it will pave the way for a commercial production in the future.

“Everyone is better off when critical minerals are abundant, and we need smarter refining technology to make that a reality,” chief executive Jonathan Ring said.

Zethos said the plant in Bromley was New Zealand’s only domestic source of high-grade zinc, while also producing copper, nickel, manganese and other valuable co-products.

The company has scaled rapidly since its founding in 2021 from laboratory research to pilot operations, and now a large-scale demonstration facility, and has raised $16 million in funding.

“Less than a year ago this was an empty warehouse,” Ring said. “Today it is the world’s first scale facility producing low-cost low-carbon zinc from steel mill dust.”

Speaking to RNZ, Ring described the facility as a “very large pilot” at near commercial scale.

“If this is successful we would then go on to be building commercial plants around the world.”

He said currently there were numerous ways of refining each individual mineral, but they could broadly be split into two categories.

“The first is where you use a coal-based smelting technology or furnace technology, and the other one is a high pressure acid leach, where you essentially dissolve everything up and separate out the critical minerals.”

Both technologies were energy intensive and highly polluting, which is where Zethos came in.

“We’ve developed a technology where we can selectively break down the minerals that contain the critical mineral within it, and eject that critical mineral, so we can then selectively dissolve it and then refine them separately.”

Ring said the technology used 70 percent less energy than existing methods, with up to 50 percent lower operating costs and up to 95 percent lower carbon emissions compared to conventional methods.

Zethos also announced a partnership with New Zealand Steel, which would see Zethos process byproduct from NZ Steel’s new electric arc furnace facility.

Ring said the demonstration facility is aimed to give investors and partners confidence to move forward with the technology.

He expected the plant to operate for around 18 months, where it would test various key performance indicators.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Plans for a new social housing complex are sparking concerns in Kawakawa, with some residents saying it’s wrong to put vulnerable people in a known flood zone next door to a pub and pokies.

The council-owned company behind the plan, however, says the Far North desperately needs more affordable housing and the flood risk will be addressed by building up the land.

Complicating the picture is a government grant to upgrade Kawakawa’s failing water and sewage systems – but the Far North District Council can only claim the $25 million subsidy if enough new homes get the go-ahead.

The plan, if approved, would involve building 18 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom units on vacant land between the Hunter Star Hotel, on Kawakawa’s main street, and the Waiomio Stream.

Earlier this month RNZ revealed Northlanders had by far the longest waiting time in the country – more than 800 days – for help under the government’s Housing First scheme.

Kawakawa Business Association chairman Malcolm Francis said the town “definitely” needed more social housing, but the Far North Holdings and Ngāti Hine Health Trust proposal was in the wrong place.

“Why would you put people in harm’s way, given that it’s a flood plain? These guys are going through protocol and saying it’s the best site that they’ve got, but there’s got to be other sites.”

Northland Regional Council hazard maps showed much of the land was a one-in-10-year flood zone.

Francis said raising the land might protect the residents, but it increased the risk to neighbouring businesses.

“They’re going to build a two-metre bund and house these people on top, but that’s going to bring more water onto the existing businesses there. They’re saying it’s only going to raise flood levels by 5 millimetres, but given the sort of weather events we’ve got coming down on us at the moment, can you guarantee it’s 5mm? I guarantee it’s not a guarantee at all.”

Francis was also concerned the homes would be built directly behind a pub.

“They’re sticking people that could be dependent or solo mothers or whatever behind the hotel. And, you know, there’s gambling and drinking and all this sort of stuff going on.”

Kawakawa Engineering owner Kevin Davidson said he was concerned about the effects on the 50-year-old business, which is across Old Whangae Road from the proposed housing complex.

“We employ a lot of people and this is going to really constrain our business,” he said.

“I do worry about these people that are going to be installed across the road from us because we’re a very noisy outfit. We run lights day and night. There’s forklifts operating so it’s dangerous. I’m also concerned that we’re putting vulnerable people behind a hotel. And I don’t see that as right.”

Davidson said flooding was a major problem on Old Whangae Road.

A new stopbank was keeping smaller floods at bay but he was worried about the next big one.

“The business has been flooded for the last 30-odd years up to six times a year. This issue is not going away. It seems to be getting worse, if anything, with the climate changing to be warmer and heavier rainfalls.”

He said a rethink was needed.

“There’s miles better places to build these houses. We have vacant land by the hospital, we have a huge area of domain land within the town boundaries. Why they’re focusing on a scrap of land that floods behind a hotel and putting vulnerable people in it is beyond belief.”

Far North Holdings chief executive Andy Nock said the units, in six two-storey blocks, would be a mix of affordable rentals aimed at low-income workers and kaumātua and kuia flats.

They would ease a critical housing shortage, and help the council secure $25.6m from the government’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund to upgrade Kawakawa infrastructure he said was “bursting at the seams”.

To claim the full amount, 180 new homes would have to be built in Kawakawa by 2030.

Nock said the flood risk would be addressed by raising the land by 1.8m, above the one-in-100-year flood level.

Many urban areas in Northland, including Whangārei’s city centre, were in one-in-100-year flood zones.

“It’s simply a matter of adapting to those changing circumstances, which is why we’re raising the site. If you think back a few years we had to do the same when we built the library in Kawakawa. We raised it up and have no issues at all with flooding.”

As for proximity to the hotel, Nock said Kawakawa was a small town, so any flat land near the town centre would be close to a pub.

“We thought that was outweighed by the benefits. You’ve got some lovely views over the fields, you’re right on a parkland setting, you can walk into town. And that’s what you need for kaumātua and kuia and affordable housing, you need that proximity to services.”

Nock said a resource consent application had been lodged. It would be up to the council to decide whether it would be notified.

Ngāti Hine was pursuing a separate project to build more than 100 units on hospital land up the hill, he said.

Ngāti Hine Health Trust chief executive Tamati Shepherd-Wipiiti said the units would be aimed mainly at low-income workers who struggled to pay market rents, along with some families, solo parents and kaumātua and kuia.

Changes to government funding made it financially difficult to build social housing so the new units would be affordable rentals, with rents set at about 80 percent of market rates.

The tenants would not be taken from the social housing list with categories A or B, who had the most complex needs.

There would still be plenty of support available at the health trust’s offices located straight across the road.

Shepherd-Wipiiti said the trust’s first 35 homes were built a year ago at Marohapa, in nearby Moerewa, with a wellbeing services centre in the middle.

That meant residents had access to social workers, people who could help mums with babies, health practitioners, mental health and addiction staff, and kuia and kaumātua who could help kids with homework.

“We never just build a housing development,” he said.

Unlike the planed Kawakawa complex, Marohapa was social housing – but so far there had not been a single eviction or serious social issue.

Shepherd-Wipiiti said the need for housing in the Far North was “massive”.

In Kawakawa and Moerewa it was a straight supply problem with not enough homes available, and the health trust was the only organisation doing any building, he said.

Apart from the 35 already built in Moerewa and 30 proposed for Old Whangae Road in Kawakawa, the trust was planning to build another 120 on the Kawakawa Hospital site and 30 on Mill Road.

As well as the $25.6m for Kawakawa, in 2022 the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund granted the Far North District Council $23m for infrastructure upgrades in Kaikohe on the proviso a certain number of new homes were built.

There, Far North Holdings and Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi had already completed a major social housing development on the former RSA site on Broadway, and Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi was building 100 affordable homes on Bisset Road aimed at low-income workers locked out of the housing market.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

House buyers often haven’t had long memories of how floods have affected different areas – but there’s a warning that could change if big storms become a more frequent occurrence.

Parts of Wellington and Wairarapa were inundated this week, soon after Cyclone Vaianu swept through parts of the country and only months after areas of Northland were badly hit by slips and floods.

Cotality head of research Nick Goodall said he was undertaking research looking at the effects of Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Anniversary weekend floods on the housing market.

But he said earlier research, focusing on Dunedin, showed there was a 15 percent discount on property prices in flood affected and surrounding areas, but that was gone after about 18 months.

“Our colleagues in Australia did a similar analysis with similar results.”

He said Cotality wanted to look into it again to see whether the mindset had changed if storms were perceived as more frequent events.

“The question always is will people’s attitudes change over time? And the more frequently they’re happening, then the more it will change people’s behaviour.”

Goodall said banks often had more information than buyers did.

“I think it’s probably about having the right information available for people to make those educated decisions … yes, there’s some flood models out there, but there’s inconsistency, it’s not always freely available to public.

“The more that information gets into the public’s hands, the more likely that people are going to base their decision on that, saying I’m not going to buy it or I’m not going to buy it at a certain price.”

Auckland mortgage adviser Bruce Patten said he had seen the impact being short-lived, too.

“It’s amazing how short some people’s memories are …. In saying that with insurance premiums going through the roof in some areas, a lot of people get put off if they ask for an insurance quote.”

Another mortgage adviser, Campbell Hastie, said how houses were likely to be affected by future weather events was already an increasing worry for buyers he met.

“I think people used to assume that every property could be insured unless it was a total odd ball but they’re learning that that’s not always the case,” he said.

“Lenders are more focused on it too and while it’s always been a condition of lending, it’s been given a bit more prominence in loan offers which is another reason customers take more notice these days. Flood-related information is fairly easy to find and there’s more detailed info in LIM reports too … it’s more likely to be on your radar so yes, people are looking for it and it does factor into their decision making.”

Auckland real estate salesperson Diego Traglia said flooding and other severe weather events would have a noticeable but nuanced impact on buyer behaviour.

“In the immediate aftermath of storms, we typically see a shift in sentiment. Buyers become more cautious, particularly around properties near waterways, low-lying areas, or those with any known flood history. Due diligence increases, with more focus on LIM reports, insurance, and past flooding. For many, that risk is enough to rule properties out.

“That said, the impact on demand is usually selective. Well-located homes still attract strong interest, but properties with clear flood exposure can see reduced competition, longer time on market, and pressure on price.”

He said areas like Kumeu had added complexity.

“Some council flood maps are known to be inaccurate, and updates are coming. For now, some properties appear to be in flood zones on paper but aren’t actually affected, which can confuse buyers and impact demand based on outdated information.

“A key factor is understanding why a property flooded, and what’s been done to fix it. Not all flooding is equal. Where the cause has been addressed, whether through drainage upgrades or infrastructure improvements, buyer confidence can return relatively quickly.

“Over time, the market tends to rebalance. Demand doesn’t disappear, but it becomes more price-sensitive and risk-aware, with buyers taking a more informed and measured approach.”

Some owners already in flood zones were worried about the future impact.

In one case the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) scheme dealt with recently, a family complained after their house was badly damaged in flooding and had to be rebuilt.

The insurer agreed to cover the rebuild but there was a dispute about whether the floor level should be higher.

The insurer said it only needed to raise the floor level to the minimum required to obtain building consent and that there was no clear evidence from the council that a higher level was mandatory.

The family wanted it higher to reduce the risk of future flooding.

They said that if the floor level was not raised enough, the council could place a notice on the property title indicating that the land was subject to natural hazard risk, which could affect future insurance or their ability to get a mortgage.

The Insurance and Financial Ombudsman scheme looked at the terms of the house insurance policy, whether a higher floor level was required to obtain building consent, and expert reports and council information provided by both parties.

The policy stated that the insurer was only required to pay for costs that were reasonably required to rebuild the home and meet legal or council requirements.

Because there was no firm council decision showing the higher floor level was mandatory, the IFSO scheme found the insurer was not required to pay for the additional cost.

“Many people want to future proof their homes against flooding, especially as severe weather events become more frequent,” said Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Karen Stevens.

“However, our role is to look at whether an insurer has correctly applied the terms of the policy. Insurers aren’t required to fund upgrades or improvements that go beyond what is required under the policy.”

She said uncertainty about climate adaptation and who should pay for it was becoming an increasingly common issue for homeowners, insurers and councils.

“This issue is not going away, especially with the number of storms we’re seeing now. There are urgent decisions to be made about how adaptation will be managed and funded.”

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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 number of job advertisments continued to grow in March, although at a slower pace than in previous months.

The latest SEEK NZ Employment Report showed job ads rose 0.8 percent in March compared with February, but were still 13 percent higher than a year earlier.

At the same time, competition for jobs continued to ease, with applications per job ad falling 2.8 percent from the previous month – the sixth consecutive monthly decline.

At a regional level, the South Island remained the standout.

SEEK NZ country manager Rob Clark said the region’s positive momentum had been a defining feature of the job market so far in 2026, although the recovery was becoming more broad‑based.

“Southland and Otago continue to grow steadily, with rising demand in the construction and industrial sectors,” he said.

“Growth also broadened in the North Island in March, with Taranaki and Waikato driving monthly gains.”

Job ads in Wellington and Auckland were broadly flat in March, although Wellington was up 11.7 percent on an annual basis.

Auckland remained a relative laggard, with job ads just 5.5 percent higher than a year earlier.

Construction remained the engine of annual growth, with job ads up 36.0 percent year‑on‑year, despite being flat over the month.

Trades and services, manufacturing, and transport and logistics each recorded annual growth of 22.5 percent and posted modest monthly gains.

However, hospitality and tourism, retail, and marketing and communications all lost ground in March.

“These figures reflect an economy where infrastructure, primary industries, and operational roles are driving real hiring demand,” Clark said.

Demand for AI skills continued to grow exponentially, particularly in information technology, consulting, and marketing and communications, he said.

“Overall, the March data reinforces what we’ve been seeing build since late 2025 – a broad‑based, durable recovery anchored in goods‑producing industries, essential services, and infrastructure‑related hiring, with encouraging signs the North Island is starting to catch up to the South Island’s strong run.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Treasury officials have this week decided to revisit their economic forecasts for this year’s Budget – just five weeks before its scheduled delivery.

In a briefing at her Beehive office, Finance Minister Nicola Willis told reporters the move was “very unusual” and demonstrated the intense global volatility.

She said she was awaiting the updated forecasts before Cabinet could sign off on the Budget, due to be announced on 28 May.

“Treasury are working their hardest to make those forecasts as accurate as they can be, but they are just very cognisant that every time these numbers move in international markets, it has pretty significant implications for what they’re forecasting in growth, inflation, state of our books.”

Willis said the crisis had meant a “rework” of the Budget, given the need to squeeze in extra unexpected initiatives like the recently announced cost of living support.

Asked about any significant spending cuts, Willis said “a range of savings” had been found.

“I am very conscious that many New Zealanders would like to see us splashing the cash right now, and I would love to ease the pressure that many people are feeling,” she said.

“We simply can’t do that responsibly as a country right now.”

‘Disrupted but not derailed’

Willis said Treasury had advised her – based on the markets – that oil was expected to dip back below US$80 (NZ$135) by the end of the year.

“We also hold out the hope that oil will gradually resume flowing through the Strait of Hormuz in the second half of this year,” she said.

“What we are presenting to you is a picture of an economy that has been disrupted, but not derailed, and will continue to grow this year.”

Willis presented several potential scenarios – prepared by Treasury – regarding possible economic impacts of the Iran crisis.

For example, if oil prices averaged US$110 a barrel in the current quarter before returning to normal early next year, officials expected inflation could hit 3.9 percent this financial year.

GDP growth would be expected to fall to 2 percent, while unemployment would remain steady at 5.3 percent.

Willis said, based on recent developments and market expectations, that scenario seemed to be the “most likely”.

In a “prolonged and more severe” conflict where oil prices averaged $180 across this quarter and next, inflation could climb to 7.4 percent, with growth of just 0.8 percent and an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent.

Willis said that outcome was “extremely unlikely” and noted the scenarios were produced a month ago.

“If a week is a long time in politics, a day is a long time in the oil markets.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s Airpoints programme is gone, replaced by Koru.

But many people have been left wondering after the Wednesday announcement – what’s actually changed?

Here’s what we know.

The name

Airpoints is out. Koru is in.

But Airpoints dollars remain the currency and status points are what you collect.

The bands

With Airpoints, people worked up through standard silver, gold and elite tiers, depending on what they were spending.

The bands give varying degrees of perks, like lounge access and upgrades.

Those bands have been replaced with bronze, silver, gold, platinum and a new tier, black.

The status points required for the bands are the same – to reach black, someone has to earn 3200 status points in a 12-month period. The amount required to retain that standing is slightly less, 3040.

A Flexiplus flight, the most expensive, between Queenstown and Auckland would earn someone up to 36 points.

Air New Zealand said it was also introducing bonus status points at the silver level, and “status retain” at gold, where people could receive a free 30 points if they were just short of the amount required to requalify.

“Across all tiers, Koru has been simplified to make it easier for customers to track their progress and understand the benefits they are earning. As customers move up, benefits like Recognition Upgrades add more value to the journey.”

Sharing

People who are on the black tier will be able to share some of their benefits with other people.

A family package can have one nominee and family nominee status for dependents, and a friends package allows two nominees.

On the ground

Air New Zealand said there were a number of improvements happening on the ground, too.

It said construction of the new Koru Premier lounge at Auckland International Airport was due to begin later this year.

“The lounge will nearly double in size and feature two distinct spaces: one for Koru Platinum and Koru Black customers, and another for Koru Gold, Star Alliance Gold, Koru Silver and Koru Club members.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Central Otago’s Lammermoor Station – the country’s largest organic farm and only certified organic fine wool producer – has woven a new deal with French fashion house Chanel.

The iconic 5200 hectare sheep, beef and arable Lammermoor station is nestled among tussock high country in the Paerau valley, and has been farmed by the Elliot family for nearly a century.

The owners of the farm, which also boasts a whisky and gin distillery using its grain, will launch the joint venture with Chanel for the supply of its wool, retaining their stake.

The government said Chanel invested in a joint venture company to own part of and support Lammermoor Station.

Land Information Minister Mike Butterick said the investment was granted under the Overseas Investment Act’s Benefit to New Zealand – farm land benefit pathway, and would provide substantial benefit to New Zealand.

“Chanel plans to build on Lammermoor’s organic status and achieve Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC). That would make Lammermoor the world’s first ROC fine wool-producing farm,” he said.

“Achieving this certification would help to further boost the value of Lammermoor’s fine wool, increasing export receipts. It also boosts the reputation of New Zealand wool’s high quality and sustainable production.

“It’s a win-win-win for Chanel, Lammermoor and New Zealanders.”

The farm has been run by the Elliot family, including Susan and John and their children, since John’s grandfather purchased the property in 1928, and later extended the site.

Also supplying firm Boerum Apparel and Naturally Yarns among others, it became certified organic in 2022.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A Canterbury investment company appears to have used investors’ money to fund personal interests of its director and his family members, while investors face a “substantial shortfall”, according to an interim liquidators report.

In December 2025, the Financial Markets Authority sought the liquidation of Rangiora-based Chance Voight Investment Corporation Limited (CVICL), and five of its main subsidiaries.

The interim liquidators report by PwC was released on Wednesday after the High Court in Christchurch lifted suppression.

The report which was dated 26 January recommended the High Court place the companies into liquidation.

PwC said investor funds totalled about $54.2 million as at 10 December 2025 (when the interim liquidators were appointed), comprising about $50.4m in debt investments and $3.8m in CVICL equity.

PwC said investor interest – and in some cases, redemption payments – were largely funded by new investor money, not investment returns.

Key findings included extensive activity related to Chance Voight director Bernard Whimp’s personal interests.

“A substantial level of activity and use of investor funds, including via advances to related entities outside of the group, appears to be related to the personal interests of the director and his family members,” the interim liquidators report said.

It went on to say: “Decision-making within the group is highly centralised to one person (Mr Whimp) with no independent oversight, inadequate governance records, and significant related-party transactions.”

The report highlighted poor financial record keeping practices, with limited management accounting reports, and only recent efforts to prepare consolidated financial statements, and no audit processes.

“We believe these issues would persist were control to be returned to the director,” the report said.

The interim liquidators recommended the High Court order the liquidation of further entities related to Chance Voight, including CVI Management Services Limited Partnership, which had Whimp as the sole limited partner.

The report said this entity received $9.2m in management fees over the last two-and-a-half years, and the dollar figure represented 24 percent of funds received by the group from external investors as at 30 September 2025.

Another related entity scrutinised by the interim liquidators was CVI Projects Limited.

“Substantial investor funds have been advanced to this entity, much of which appears to relate to the matters/properties of the director and his family’s personal interests,” the report said.

“No security has been identified as being registered over the properties that appear to have received the benefit of the majority of this funding.”

Investors should expect a “substantial shortfall”

The interim report said most investors and shareholders appeared to be 65 years and over, and based on conversations they had with investors, “an understanding of the full risk profile of the investments offered was often lacking”.

“Based on discussions with a number of investors, it appears that many had limited financial knowledge despite being recorded as wholesale or otherwise exempt investors.”

The report said the complexity of the transactions across multiple entities, and the lack of visibility over records, meant it was not possible to estimate the outcome for investors.

“However, a substantial shortfall is anticipated,” it said. “In addition, the level of intercompany and related party transactions requires consideration of whether pooling orders should be pursued.”

Chance Voight Group “materially insolvent”

The group reported a consolidated loss of $5.5m for the six-months ended September 2025.

“Losses of this scale, which are not linked to temporary disruption or timing, confirms that the underlying business activities is not viable,” the report said.

“We have assessed that CVICL and the majority of its subsidiaries are both balance sheet and cash flow insolvent on a standalone, and consolidated, book value basis.”

It also found the group had a negative net asset position of $11.8m.

“The realisable value of the Group’s assets will be insufficient to meet liabilities,” the report said. “Any possible recovery would require an unrealistic uplift in asset values.”

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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 New Zealand stock market is yet to appoint a permanent replacement to take over from the long-serving chief executive Mark Peterson, who departs at the end of the month.

“The process for CEO recruitment is well advanced and the Board is taking the necessary time to ensure we find the right candidate for what is a demanding role requiring a broad range of skills and domain knowledge,” chairperson John McMahon told shareholders at this morning’s annual meeting.

“There are also a number of exchanges looking for a chief executive at the moment.”

Among them was Australia’s ASX, after its chief executive Helen Lofthouse announced in February she would step down at the end of May.

Still, it had been been 10 months since Peterson announced he would step-down.

The board announced chief financial and corporate officer Graham Law would take over in an acting capacity until the board can find a permanent replacement.

“The Board’s message to shareholders is that whoever is appointed as CEO will continue to deliver and evolve the agreed NZX growth strategy which is working and gaining strong momentum,” McMahon said.

The outlook

He said the current financial year saw a strong start to the year, though there had been a softening in global market asset prices and capital markets activity following the start of the war in Iran.

“Despite present global market asset prices and capital markets activity levels, we are maintaining our operating earnings guidance range of $53.0 million to $58.5 million, which is subject to the usual market risks and outcomes,” McMahon said.

“If global market asset prices and capital markets activity levels remain at current levels across the rest of 2026, then our operating earnings would be towards the lower end of this range.”

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