NZ King Salmon lifts underlying profit guidance for 2026 financial year

Source: Radio New Zealand

NZ King Salmon now expects full‑year processed harvest volumes of 5800 to 6100 metric tonnes. Supplied

Fish farming company NZ King Salmon has announced a significant upgrade to its full‑year 2026 earnings outlook after better‑than‑expected summer farming results.

Pro‑forma underlying earnings (EBITDA) are now forecast at $19 million to $27 million, up from previous guidance of $9 million to $15 million.

Chief executive Carl Carrington said the revised guidance follows the completion of the summer farming period, traditionally the most challenging time for forecasting fish performance.

“Mortality levels over summer have been lower than forecast and feed‑out rates have remained strong which has resulted in the company having more fish to sell, and an overall improvement in fish size and quality,” he said.

NZ King Salmon now expects full‑year processed harvest volumes of 5800 to 6100 metric tonnes, up from earlier guidance of 5500 to 5900 tonnes.

Performance gains have been driven by a new summer feed diet, strong operational execution at sea farms, and resulting efficiency benefits, including lower unit costs and a greater mix of higher‑value products.

The board has widened the guidance range to reflect external risks linked to Middle East tensions, including potential disruptions to air freight, rising production costs, and oil price volatility.

NZ King Salmon will release its half‑year results in late May, alongside a detailed performance update.

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Mainfreight CEO frustrated with KiwiRail, AT for not offering additional services

Source: Radio New Zealand

Mainfreight’s Ōtāhuhu depot Alistair Guthrie

Mainfreight’s chief executive says he is “frustrated” at KiwiRail and Auckland Transport, and that the agencies could be doing more as the Middle East conflict sends fuel prices up.

The country’s fuel stocks have dropped in the past two updates, but officials say there is no need for alarm.

Don Braid told Morning Report moving freight via rail was more efficient than by truck, “yet we haven’t seen KiwiRail stand up to offer additional services”.

“They’re missing in action at the moment, and we would like to see them stand up to help the industry.”

The fuel crisis had brought to the forefront the importance of fuel, particularly diesel, which needed to be used more efficiently, he said.

“It’s not just what’s in our trucks, but it’s what fuels our fishing vessels. It’s what goes into the tractors to harvest the crops. It’s how the farmer gets out to feed his animals. It has a big role to play in our everyday lives.”

Mainfreight had been speaking to KiwiRail but was failing to get action, he said.

“We are trying, but [we’re] frustrated to be perfectly honest.”

Other organisations, like Auckland Transport, also needed to make adjustments to make diesel usage more efficient, he said.

It should reconsider its position on the idea of allowing freight vehicles to use bus lanes, Braid said.

“Think about the amount of diesel idling that goes on because we can’t use a bus lane.”

Kevin Laskey has owned Laskey’s Auto and petrol station for 26 years. Charlotte Cook/RNZ

Fewer customers at rural garage

Meanwhile, the operator of a north Wairarapa garage and petrol station says he believes people have become much more discerning about where they buy their fuel.

Kevin Laskey of Pahiatua told Morning Report he although his rural fuel station had similar pricing to the nearest city, Palmerston North, he was seeing fewer customers.

But the financial pinch created by the high price of fuel was also affecting the garage side of the business, he said.

“Definitely going to be less maintenance on cars, housing, anything like that … everything they have left over has to go to food and and just living really.”

One customer had come in with a Warrant of Fitness that was three month’s expired, and metal wires exposed on the tyres, Laskey said.

“He’d been driving. He had no choice. And and we managed to get some second-hand tyres on the vehicle for him so he could get a warrant.

“That’s what we live with.”

Laskey said he thought the government should reduce GST on fuel to lower the burden on households.

“The petrol is a dollar dearer, so they’re making that extra 15 cents on the dollar. Maybe that’s where they could reduce?”

“Or people have to start walking.”

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Hoard your emergency fund, and other pieces of investment advice you might need to ignore

Source: Radio New Zealand

There are some pieces of investment advice that seem to always (or most often) hold true.

Compounding interest is your friend. Don’t fret about your KiwiSaver balance if you have 40 years until you need the money. Someone who is offering a really good investment won’t need to give you a hard sell.

But what about the advice that isn’t so good?

RNZ asked some investment experts what advice you’re best to ignore.

Buy what you know

Dean Anderson, founder of Kernel, says people need to be very careful about taking the adage “buy what you know” to heart.

People are sometimes told that being familiar with a company gives them an insight into whether it’s a good investment.

But he says that’s not really true for most people, and can lead to a situation where you have too much money in big name companies that you recognise, even if they’re not actually offering the best opportunity.

People who bought shares in Air New Zealand might be experiencing the negative effects of this.

“A mass amount of people bought up post-Covid in something they knew and then share prices dropped,” Anderson said. “I think a lot of people have bought companies because they know the brand, but that doesn’t make it a good investment.

“It’s a really easy narrative to put out there because it’s easy to relate to when you’re starting out. I worry that you send people down the wrong pathway and you simplify it too much.”

University of Auckland associate professor of finance Gertjan Verdickt said it could also be described as home bias.

Many New Zealanders also have too much money invested in local companies, when they would be better to diversify internationally to spread their risk.

“Investors tend to overweight domestic stocks and companies they’re familiar with, missing out on significant diversification benefits.

“Academic theory says you should hold international stocks in proportion to their global market cap weight (currently about 59 percent non-US stocks for a global portfolio), but popular advice typically recommends much less – often 25 to 30 percent , or even avoiding international stocks entirely.”

Verdickt said people should also ignore any advice to buy stocks in the companies they worked for.

“If your company goes bankrupt, you’re unemployed and your investments are worthless – you’ve concentrated your risk exactly where you shouldn’t. Yet this advice persists, often framed as ‘benefiting when the company does well’.”

Thinking of your home as your most important investment

New Zealanders tend to be focused on property as an investment but Verdickt says it’s particularly important to be wary of the investment you’re making in the home you live in.

By many measures, an owner-occupied home isn’t really a home at all because it doesn’t give you a significant income (except in the sense that you aren’t paying rent elsewhere) and if you sold it, you’d still need to pay to live elsewhere.

Verdickt said his grandmother in Belgium mentioned a home being someone’s best investment multiple times a year.

“While homeownership can be good for some people, there’s not much evidence that buying is financially superior to renting and investing the difference. Popular advice often treats housing as a can’t-miss investment, while academics note it’s often not a great financial investment and can create dangerous concentration of wealth in a single illiquid asset.”

Save 10 percent to 15 percent of your income at every age

People are often advised to set up a savings habit and stick with it.

Verdickt said economists would argue that you should smooth consumption over time, not your saving rate.

“That typically means low or even negative savings when young when income is low, high savings in midlife, and spending down in retirement. The constant savings rate advice ignores life-cycle income patterns and the time value of money in a way that’s economically suboptimal.”

Keep emergency savings even when you’re carrying credit card debt

You have probably also heard the advice that it’s important to have an emergency savings account to fall back on, in case of things like unexpected expensive repairs being required on your car, or another unforeseen financial emergency.

The idea is that this stops you needing to take on expensive debt if you hit a financial squeeze.

But Verdickt says it’s important to think about this in a wider context. It may not make sense to build up your emergency savings account until you’ve cleared your expensive debt.

Verdickt said it was common for people to have money in a low-interest savings account at the same time as carrying high-interest credit card debt, which did not make sense.

“It’s economically irrational given the interest rate spread. You’d be better off paying down the high-interest debt and using available credit if needed.”

Timing the market

You might hear people telling you now is a good time to get into a particular investment, or that you should stay on the sidelines until a certain condition is met.

Ana-Marie Lockyer, chief executive of Pie Funds, says you should probably ignore that and not jump in or out based on headlines or short-term movements.

“It’s very difficult to get right consistently, and often people end up missing the best days of the market, which can have a big impact on long-term returns. As an example, would you believe that we woke up to the S&P 500 being at an all-time high amid so much geopolitical uncertainty, that’s nearly 10 percent up on the end of March.

“Too often we see investors move to conservative investments as soon as markets become volatile. While that can feel safer, switching after markets have already fallen can lock in losses and mean you miss the recovery. In that example, those investors with exposure to the S&P 500 who made decisions during the volatile period since the beginning of March may have missed some or all of this bounce.”

Don’t look for quick wins

Lockyer said people should also be careful about anyone offering short term gains or quick wins.

“Investing tends to work best when it’s boring and consistent – diversified, long-term, and aligned with your goals.

“The key is to take a step back from the noise, focus on a strategy that suits your timeframe, and stick with it rather than reacting to every market update. As Warren Buffet says… the market is a way of transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient.”

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Risk the AI investment bubble will burst this year, Australian professor says

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand is a small country but how it regulated advances in technology were closely watched, Chris Marsden says. 123rf

A visiting Australian law professor says government regulations covering AI and other technology issues matter, because they matter to the global tech companies.

Monash University Professor Chris Marsden said New Zealand was a small country but how it regulated advances in technology was closely watched, along with Australia and Singapore.

In a keynote speech to the inaugural University of Auckland conference on law, technology and government, he said there was a real risk the AI investment bubble will burst this year.

Marsden said there were signs history was repeating itself, drawing on the collapse of the dot-com-bubble that developed in the late 1990s and ended with a spectacular global crash 26 years ago.

He said the pattern of investment in AI technology was similar to that, with the warning signs clear to see, drawing on a presentation loaded with slides offering historical context.

“So let’s take digital regulatory history seriously, and let’s think about where we might go next when the inevitable collapse of the bubble happens,” Marsden said.

He said the New Zealand government had a role to play in setting out a legal framework to regulate the big AI companies.

“Countries the size of New Zealand can have outsized impacts on regulation,” Marsden said, noting that Singapore was similar in size to New Zealand.

“Singapore’s regulation is very important to these companies… Because they take note of the fact that there is an alternative model that can be used, whether you agree with the model or not.

“And the Christchurch call was a really good example of where New Zealand was exerting a significant influence on how these companies moderate speech.”

He said tech companies and officials in Washington and Brussels paid attention to New Zealand and Australia because the countries were English speaking and made good test markets, given their location and trusted status as members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

However, Marsden said government regulations would only be effective if they were enforced, which was often not the case where fast-moving technology developments were concerned.

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Building industry will get ‘tanked’: Crisis is looming as construction costs soar, experts say

Source: Radio New Zealand

Supplied/ Unsplash – Josh Olalde

Rising fuel prices due to war in the Middle East are likely to create a serious crisis for the construction market that has not yet been fully understood, one expert says.

John Tookey, a professor at AUT’s school of future environments, said it would be a “huge” problem.

“Construction is unique in that it requires huge amounts of energy to form construction materials – for example, things as simple as bricks, plasterboard, aluminium extrusions – as well as huge amounts to transport it.

“Oil production is down through damage to wells and so forth by 22 percent or more – that is production capacity that is out for two or three years or more. This is not going to go away soon. Construction costs are going to spike shortly, maybe as much as 25 percent or more and will stay that way or escalate further.

“This is going to hammer the construction market, housing, infrastructure everything. At the same time that interest rates are going to rise – where construction totally relies on borrowed money.”

He said it still seemed as though people were hoping to “imagine away” the implications of the disruption to oil.

“The construction industry is massively energy intensive. You know, what people don’t understand and don’t get is how many products are affected. Plastics, all plastics. Aluminium. Some of the biggest producers of aluminium are in the Gulf.

“They use the surplus gas that’s tapped off from the oil fields to fire smelters to process bulk aluminium, for instance. That means that the actual material cost of aluminium is going to go through the roof. Same with steel.

“The physical requirement to rebuild so much oil infrastructure is going to require vast amounts of steel for piping, which means that the cost of structural steel is going to go through the roof.

“The cost of making bricks, how do you make bricks? You fire them in a kiln. How do you fire them in a kiln? Well, you either use electricity or you use gas, very often gas.”

He said it could be an “epoch-making moment”. “The building industry is going to get tanked… I’ve got friends in the industry who are getting hit systematically by price rises, price rises, price rises on everything. Anything that is energy-intensive is going bananas. And, you know, I could see a potentially as much as a between 30 percent and 50 percent rise in construction materials.”

Materials such as bricks are set to be more expensive. 123RF

Building Industry Federation chief executive Julian Leys said he was concerned, too.

“I sit on an industry panel advising government on the building supply chain and also talk regularly to my counterpart in Australia – Building Products Industry Council.

“We are seeing increases already announced for May in PVC and PE building products – there is a requirement that manufacturers or suppliers give three months’ notice for any price increases so May or June is when we can start to see the first of these coming through.”

He said he spoke to a member of the federation who was importing from China and being asked by a manufacturer to pay 22 percent more for the same product because of the conflict, due to higher shipping charges, increased port charges and freight and transport charges up 44 percent.

“He has asked one of his biggest customers in NZ if they can accept a 3 percent price increase to partially cover his costs above. That customer has said no and so he is faced with the prospect of every dollar he invests in this product only getting 90 cents back which is not sustainable.

“The other materials that have or will be impacted directly out of the Middle East are aluminium, bitumen for roading, and also chemicals used in timber treatment process although we have good stocks at the moment. Inevitably if the conflict is prolonged it is going to drive up the prices of building materials and impact the cost of building a house.”

Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said he was not as convinced that people building a new home, for example, would feel a huge impact.

“We’ve heard anecdotes already… some bricklayers had already had letters from suppliers saying costs to get you these materials are going to go up 10 percent to 15 percent. But that was due to fuel surcharges, so transport costs going up.

“But I think more broadly our index of house building costs is about half materials and half wages, let’s say, more or less.

“If you think about the end cost to the person looking to buy that new build or take on a new build project, I mean, yes, there’s going to be some inflation there for sure, because the materials will go up… it feels like there’ll be some inflation there.

“But then that’s only half of our index, pretty much, and it doesn’t necessarily feel like wages are going to skyrocket in this environment so far.”

He said unemployment was higher than post-Covid and the economy was weaker.

“You might see some materials cost inflation, but you may not necessarily see much wages inflation. So, you know, you might only get half the overall inflation that you otherwise might have got. So, you know, I don’t think it’s necessarily sort of panic stations in terms of the end cost to build a house.”

He said if building became too expensive compared to the currently subdued market for existing homes, it would slow building activity.

“It doesn’t feel like a set of conditions where the wider housing market itself is going to surge. So it just feels like the wider environment is going to be tough, I guess, for builders to pass through any price rises.”

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‘Households will feel the brunt’: Infometrics warns of economic hit

Source: Radio New Zealand

Infometrics says households will feel the impact of increased pricing pressures. RNZ

The Reserve Bank is set to have a battle on its hands to keep inflation under control over the next year, Infometrics says, and households will feel the biggest impact.

It has released its latest economic forecasts, which predict that rising fuel prices will drive inflation to 4.8 percent in the current quarter.

Chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said, even with the assumption that fuel prices were able to moderate through the second half of this year, he still expected inflation to be at 3.9 percent in March next year and not return to 3 percent, the top of the Reserve Bank’s target band, until December next year.

He said he shared ANZ’s updated view that the official cash rate would need to rise three times this year starting July.

But he expected it to need to go higher – reaching 4 percent by mid-2027 and as high as 4.5 percent in the first half of 2028.

He said while he expected the increases to start in July, the possibility of a May start could not be ruled out.

Kiernan said he could understand the argument by economists such as Jarrod Kerr at Kiwibank that rates should not rise too quickly when the economy was weak.

“But to me, it would be reckless to sit on your hands for too long and wait until the evidence that inflation is going to be a problem is completely unavoidable.”

He said inflation pressure had already been “surprisingly and uncomfortably” persistent even before fuel prices rose.

“Particularly in the context of the spare capacity that had developed in the economy over the previous two years. Currently, weaker demand conditions provide no guarantee that inflation will also track lower.

“We’re seeing more of the sort of pricing pressures coming through and we think that it’ll be a bit of a repeat of what we saw through the Covid period, where businesses are more willing to pass on cost increases … even though demand is weak, firms probably don’t have a lot of wriggle room to absorb much.”

He said it was likely that households would feel the biggest impact.

“Households are probably where the brunt of the hit will be felt in terms of the economic performance this year. You’ve got higher fuel prices, then you’ve got all other goods and services potentially going up in price. The spectre of interest rates rising.

“You’ve got a labour market that we’ve sort of pushed out the timing of any improvement by six months… the risks are that that could take longer as well. Put all that together, there’s real effects among that. And then you’ve got the psychological effects and the confidence effects of it all coming at you as well. People will be more cautious in their spending.”

Kiernan said he expected household spending to grow 0.8 percent this year, two percentage points less than the pre-conflict forecasts.

Infometrics also expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.3 percent this year from a forecast of 2.5 percent previously.

This weaker outlook assumes no serious or prolonged disruption to the availability of fuel in New Zealand.

“It goes without saying that there is currently a huge amount of uncertainty, making forecasting more challenging than at any time since the first Covid-19 lockdown,” Kiernan said.

“But economic growth over the next 18 months will undoubtedly be weaker than previously expected, with the psychological and real effects of the fuel price shock of the last seven weeks unlikely to unwind immediately. We’d hope that inflation is less persistent than we are forecasting, but the experience of the last few years shows the problems that complacency can bring, with higher inflation eroding real incomes and requiring a bigger economic downturn later on.”

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Public asked if council should borrow to help pay for Picton ferry redevelopment

Source: Radio New Zealand

An artist’s impression of one of the new ferries loading. FHL

Marlborough locals are being asked if they should pay Port Marlborough’s $110 million share of the Picton ferry redevelopment.

The work in Picton is estimated to cost $531m and is part of the $1.867 billion Cook Strait Ferry Replacement Programme.

The Marlborough District Council is proposing to borrow the money from the Local Government Funding Agency, with Port Marlborough to repay the loan in full, including interest, while also paying its annual dividend to the council.

The council previously agreed to borrow money from the Local Government Funding Agency on the port’s behalf to go towards the iReX upgrades, which has since been canned.

Marlborough Mayor Nadine Tayor said the community had fought for many years to keep the ferries in Picton, and Port Marlborough had successfully negotiated a 60-year commercial agreement to cement Picton’s role in the Cook Strait crossing.

“We have been here before of course, with public consultation in 2021/2022 to finance Port Marlborough’s contribution towards the previous ferry redevelopment programme. Since then, the government stopped the previous programme to replace the ageing Interislander fleet and progressed a revised approach, including different vessels and a new ownership model for infrastructure assets at Port Marlborough.

“Under the Local Government Act, Council is required to consult the public once again. This consultation proposal is for council to borrow the same $110 million through the Local Government Funding Agency at a favourable rate, to on-lend to Port Marlborough to pay for its share of the ferry infrastructure.”

The Bluebridge’s Connemara and Interislander’s Kaiarahi in Picton. RNZ / Samantha Gee

Taylor said the port’s business plan had been through a rigourous governance process.

“The financial principles and risk mitigations have been considered and approved by the boards of Port Marlborough and MDC Holdings, both of which have independent directors. The proposal has also been endorsed by councillors.”

She encouraged everyone with an interest in the project to read the statement of proposal document carefully, to attend one of the public meetings and to make a submission.

Public information meetings are being held on 13 May at the Port Marlborough Pavilion (1-3pm and 6-8pm) and at Lansdowne Hub, Blenheim on 14 May (6-8pm).

Submissions open tomorrow and close on 19 May and submitters can also choose to speak at hearings scheduled for 20 and 21 May, with a final decision to be made at council meeting on 26 May.

To make a submission, go to the online form at https://links.marlborough.govt.nz/haveyoursay

Queries can be emailed to portconsultation@marlborough.govt.nz

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Business NZ seeks government loan support for firms moving away from gas

Source: Radio New Zealand

123rf

Business New Zealand is making what it says is a rare plea for business supports – in the form of below-market rate loans to help businesses shift away from gas.

The pitch comes on the back of a report by the group’s Energy Council, which has found up to 8 percent of GDP and about 264,000 jobs directly rely on businesses using gas, expanding out to up to $36 billion in GDP and up to 400,000 jobs indirectly.

The group’s director of advocacy Catherine Beard told RNZ that because gas fields had declined faster than expected, gas costs were going up.

“The reason it’s getting expensive is because there’s not enough of it. So if we actually free up a bit for those that you know can’t move for maybe 10 years, then we think the transition will go a lot better.

“It’s all sorts. It’s dairy, meat, food and beverage, product manufacturing, wood product manufacturing, textile, leather, clothing, footwear, cropping agriculture, but it’s also small businesses, from bakeries to breweries to dry cleaners, hot houses.

“It’s more of a central North Island problem because the South Island tends to be on bottled gas, and they’re not having the same cost increase. But, yeah, it’s right through the whole economy.”

The situation was created by the political decision to ban oil and gas while moving towards net zero, she said.

“The oil and gas ban certainly didn’t give anyone confidence to go out looking for more gas – so … a whole lot of businesses that are facing increased costs for gas which are pretty much threatening their survival.

“It’s not something that Business NZ would normally advocate for, you know – we’re not into calling for subsidies, but … we feel like this is a politically created problem and it’s not a normal market situation that you would kind of cut off access to a lower cost energy source before you had to.”

She said businesses faced a cost barrier in switching from gas to other energy sources, so interest-free or concessionary loans from the government could help.

“We need to have some sort of plan. Other countries do this, it’s very common. We seem to have just ended up in a very high cost energy situation, and it’s not really sustainable.

The $200 million the government set aside for co-investment in oil and gas exploration was unlikely to be used, she said, and could help fund the loans.

“We talked to the oil and gas companies as well and if there’s a case for them to invest, it normally stacks up on its own. And I’m not sure that it has removed the sovereign risk when you still have the opposition saying that they would continue with a ban of oil and gas if they get back in.

“That’s potentially money that is going to be sitting on the table and not used. So we would like them to do a pretty good, thorough investigation of what support is needed on the demand side.

“If I had a political legacy, I wouldn’t be happy to have have boosted energy supply and forgotten about the demand side – and there’s no point in having this energy in the future if there’s no one left to use it.”

RNZ has sought comment from Energy Minister Simeon Brown.

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Ex‑Xero staffer Ally Naylor lays complaint with police over Sir Rod Drury

Source: Radio New Zealand

Sir Rod Drury is a former Xero chief executive and 2026 New Zealander of the year. RNZ / Diego Opatowski

Former Xero staffer Ally Naylor says she has laid a complaint with the police about former chief executive and 2026 New Zealander of the Year Sir Rod Drury.

The complaint alleges misconduct when Naylor was a junior Xero employee in 2017.

The accounting software company has launched a review into its handling of the allegations at the time.

Naylor told RNZ she expects to speak with police about her complaint next week.

Police have refused to confirm to RNZ whether they are investigating Sir Rod, who founded Xero in 2006 and was its chief executive until 2018.

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Fletcher Building says third quarter sales improving but outlook uncertain

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fletcher Building says the third quarter ended in March and largely reflected the period before the war in Iran. Fletcher Building

Construction company Fletcher Building says third quarter sales are improving, though the outlook is less certain as conflict in the Middle East sees costs rise and supply chain risks increase.

“As was the case in prior quarters, trading conditions remained competitive, with ongoing margin pressure and compression continuing across business units and most notably in the Distribution division, Firth and the Steel business units,” Fletcher chief executive Andrew Reding said, adding the third quarter ended in March largely reflected the period before the war in Iran.

Since then, he said the plastic and resins Iplex business, as well as its urea-based businesses Laminex and insulation products, were being directly affected by cost increases.

He said fuel remained a material cost driver, with diesel representing the majority of consumption across the group.

“While the price increases to date are significant, the impacts are being partly mitigated through bulk purchasing, hedging and pass-through pricing mechanisms,” the update says.

“The group consumes nearly 36 million litres of fuel annually, with diesel accounting for 94 percent of total usage.

The Heavy Building Materials division accounted for more than half of the total consumption, with Construction division accounting for nearly a third.

It says price increases across divisions ranged from a modest 1- to 5 percent, while Plastics saw significant prices increase of up to 36 percent, which included fuel-linked surcharges.

While pressure from staff had been so far limited, there had been increased feedback from people wanting to work from home, as fuel-driven commuter costs cut more deeply into household budgets.

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