Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

We are only half-way through the first month of the year and already the business closures are mounting.

EB Games will close its shops at the end of the month. Miniso and Yoyoso shops are in liquidation. Wellington’s Leuven Belgian Beer Café will close after 25 years in business.

Smaller centres are also affected. Whangārei’s Rodney Wayne said it was closing its doors, as was nearby Orrs Pharmacy, which has been open 80 years.

While economic improvement is on the horizon, there are warnings that the number of businesses closing could get worse before it gets better.

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the rate of closures often picked up at the start of a recovery.

“Particularly for some sectors, because the early part of a recovery is slow. There is a disappointment gap.”

He said that was seen in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO).

“Businesses were saying ‘oh, next quarter things are going to be much better’. Things were better but not as much better as they had expected. So the disappointment gap is the most persistent it has ever been in the history of the QSBO.

“A lot of businesses would have gone out and hired people or they might have made investments or they might have brought in stock so they’ll be at the edge. There is still a bunch of businesses that will struggle through this early part of the recovery.”

Eaqub said quite often, it was because the business had been bleeding cash and that caught up with them.

“I think there’s still a spate of business closures to come.”

But he said that should start to ease towards the end of the year.

“I think everybody thinks everything turns on a dime. It doesn’t. Different parts of the economy move in different ways.”

Some retailers would be suffering after a weaker-than-expected Christmas period, he said.

“Also some industries like construction, when the early part of the recovery comes quite often businesses will go out and bid for jobs at prices that are unrealistic because they’re just grateful to have work and then they overcommit and face financial difficulty because the cost pressure is built really quickly in the construction industry.”

Carolyn Young, chief executive of Retail NZ, said many shops had not seen the lift in sales in the fourth quarter that they had been hanging on for.

“The fourth quarter is your biggest quarter of the year where you’re going to make your profit and we know that sales were down in December … businesses have used up most of their cash reserves so their ability to continue to stay alive will be compromised if they haven’t managed to cover off their sales in December at full price.

“Through December we saw a surprising number of businesses have items on sale before Christmas which is unusual.”

She said cost pressure had continued to rise and unless businesses had been able to negotiate things like rent reductions then there would be more liquidations.

“Two national businesses, 61 stores across the two businesses, have announced liquidations or closures in the first 10 days of the year… that shows how difficult it is for small and bigger businesses. We continue to see small businesses ring up about restructures.

“We’ve got an advice line and one of the most popular topics continues to be business change, restructure, business closure and then the sort of performance management things with staff which are often an indicator that businesses are really focusing on the bottom line and how do they get the performance out of staff to ensure they have optimal sales that they need.”

She said the government could do more to ensure its settings were business-friendly and encourage people to buy from New Zealand businesses rather than offshore.

“In the next few weeks we’ll start doing some work on what’s happening overseas – South Africa put a tax in place, I think they’ve done the same in France with the businesses like Temu and Shein and that levels the playing field up because New Zealand businesses have to comply with all the New Zealand legislation and offshore businesses don’t comply with anything.”

She said while businesses could not be propped up by government, there could be settings that were more supportive.

General election a factor

Keaton Pronk, an insolvency practitioner at McDonald Vague, which is handling the Yoyoso liquidation, said it would be a testing year for insolvency because of the looming election.

“What we have previously seen in an election year is that businesses will take a wait and see approach until it is clear which party or coalition of parties will be running the country for the next three years. What will be interesting is the approach the IRD takes over this period.

“On the latest available figures, the IRD tax debt to be collected remains around the $9 billion dollar mark, well above where it was sitting pre-Covid and no doubt the government would like to recover these funds to spend and are funding the IRD accordingly.

“With this playing out the IRD will continue to apply pressure to businesses that are in arrears or fall into arrears. Looking at the January winding up figures advertised so far we can see the IRD is already active in advertising their ongoing winding up proceedings.”

He said he had a number of inquires over Christmas and January that have turned into appointments by stakeholders.

“January is traditionally a hard month for businesses as they close their doors in December for the holidays and have little income but still need to cover fixed costs, holiday leave and face IRD obligations such as November GST due 15 January, PAYE due on 20 January, October to December FBT due on 20 January, provisional tax due on 15 January and for the larger employers more PAYE due on 5th of February, this a lot of cashflow businesses need to find at a slower time of year.

“2025 was back at the levels we saw in 2011, post 2009 GFC, and we are expecting to see corporate insolvency appointments continue at the elevated levels into the middle of the 2026.

“To date the appointments have been widespread hitting all industries and regions differently, so we are unable to point to one particular sector that is unaffected. Walk down any main street and you will see a number of for lease signs up.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Bluebridge says sailings are fully booked for vehicle space into February. It comes after a fault with the ramp on one of its Cook Strait ferries cancelled days of sailings during the busy holiday period.

Around 200 passengers aboard a night sailing on the Connemara last Thursday ended up being stranded on the docked boat for 15 hours following a problem with the winch that controls the stern door.

Sailings were cancelled through to Tuesday this week.

In an alert on its website, Bluebridge said it was currently experiencing very high demand.

“Our sailings are fully booked into February,” it said.

“All ferries are operating as normal, but our phone lines and inbox are extremely busy due to peak‑season volumes.”

Bluebridge said the fastest way to check availability or make a booking was online, or via their 0800 number.

“Any seats that become available will appear online first.”

Customers were advised that phone wait times could be longer than usual as Bluebridge were operating at peak capacity.

Bluebridge has been approached for comment.

Have you been affected by the high demand? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

In a statement earlier this week StraitNZ Bluebridge spokesperson Will Dady said the majority of people affected by the Connemara cancellations had been allocated to alternative sailings or chosen to travel by other means.

“We’d like to thank everyone for their patience and apologise again for the disruption caused. We’re working as quickly as possible to liaise with those impacted but it does take time,” Dady said.

“It’s the most difficult time of year to experience a mechanical issue such as this with already heavy demand for sailings but we want to reassure our passengers we’re doing our best to assist getting them across Cook Strait to their destination as quickly as possible,” he said.

When can you book a ferry?

RNZ went through Bluebridge’s website to see when a sailing could be booked.

For two passengers with a car, the first available sailing RNZ found was Friday 20 February at 2am from Wellington to Picton, with limited sailings through to the end of February.

In the reverse direction, there were limited sailings listed in January and most sailings appeared to be available from February.

RNZ also looked at availability on competitor Cook Strait ferry the Interislander.

For two people and a car there were limited sailings in the next week. Picton sailings were available through February while Wellington sailings were booked out until 23 February.

On both Interislander and Bluebridge, more sailings were available without a vehicle.

Interislander says it has limited space, had 100 percent reliability over holiday period

An Interislander spokesperson said its releasing vehicle capacity whenever possible to accommodate the high demand, including for the upcoming long weekends, but it warns space is likely to be very limited.

“While Interislander’s ships are fully booked for vehicle passengers departing Wellington until late February, there is some vehicle capacity departing Picton, and we have availability for foot passengers travelling both ways.”

The spokesperson said this was Interislander’s first peak season operating with two ships.

“Reliability was 100 percent throughout the busy festive period; most sailings were full, and our on-time performance was excellent. We’re proud to have delivered a safe, reliable service so far, helping tens of thousands of New Zealanders and visitors cross Cook Strait.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Elon Musk says you might not need to worry about saving for retirement soon – but New Zealanders are being told to be very wary.

The US billionaire told a recent podcast that he thought people did not need to be “squirrelling money away for retirement in 10 or 20 years”.

He said AI would reduce the cost of everything so much that everyone would have “universally high income”.

“It won’t matter … If any of the things that we’ve said are true, saving for retirement will be irrelevant.”

Dean Anderson, founder of Kernel Wealth, said this was poor advice and a major risk for most people.

“Handing over your financial security to the whim and hope that future governments or trillionaires will reliably redesign centuries of incentives, tax systems, capital ownership, and welfare … in a way that’s reliable, fair, and works for you personally is not a plan.”

He said the irony was that Musk was the ultimate reminder of why capital ownership mattered.

“He places all value on owning assets, not just earning an income. He’s accidentally proving exactly why we should save and invest.”

Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura, agreed: “This is very rich coming from the person who has $720 billion squirrelled away.

“We have seen over the past 20 years the gap between rich and poor accelerate as technology has advanced. I struggle to see why that will change all of a sudden.

“A UBI still needs to be funded and we haven’t seen a desire from the wealthy to pay higher taxes to fund it.”

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said there was a difference between wealth being created and the distribution of the wealth.

“We just don’t have the mechanisms to make everyone equally well off. And so we should always prepare … why would you not? If it turns out better than you expected, yay. But if it doesn’t, you’re still good. I think there’s a difference between what might be good for Elon Musk versus what might be good for the population of the world. They’re not the same things.”

MoneyHub founder Christopher Walsh said people needed to look after themselves.

“No one is going to underwrite or provide for your retirement other than you. Be careful of gurus, experts, podcasters and/or YouTubers who promise you otherwise.

“The next five to 20 years will be significantly different for working and retiring New Zealanders. The best thing to do is to be prepared, not rely on the chance of robots or profits from a moonshot. The changes to come in AI will benefit some more than others. It’s unknown right now.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two New Zealand tech firms are looking to capitalise on the launch of regulated open banking, rolling out a new service that promises to cut fees for sole traders.

What is open banking, how does it work and what are the risks?

Sole trader accounting platform Hnry and payment firm Volley’s new service would allow sole traders to take payments on-the-go, without needing a card terminal or percentage-based debit and credit card transaction fees.

The companies said sole traders would be able to generate a QR code in the Hnry app for clients, who would then scan and approve payments in their bank app.

“It cuts both admin time and costs,” said Hnry co-founder James Fuller, noting strong demand for an option like the service provided by Volley.

“Personal trainers, for example, don’t want to carry a card terminal, pay high fees, send invoices or chase payments,” Fuller said. “Now they can get paid on the spot, with no charge to their customer and just a small flat fee for them.”

The funds would be transferred for a flat fee of 35 cents per transaction.

Volley is a New Zealand-built payment method, launched by Jack Callister and James McCann.

It uses open banking technology to enable what they say is secure, account-to-account payments without sharing bank or card details.

Volley co-founder James McCann, who previously worked at Hnry, said New Zealand’s open banking infrastructure has caught up with the world.

“We’ve worked with open banking systems overseas, so we know what great looks like,” McCann said.

Hnry said it would gradually roll out Scan to Pay to all its customers over the next few weeks.

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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 government has announced five new tourism campaigns to lure more visitors from the United States, Canada and Australia.

It’s part of a sustained push to promote a wider range of holiday destinations through the $10 million Regional Tourism Boost.

Today’s second tranche of campaigns includes a $1.2 million project targeting Americans and Canadians, coordinated by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.

A $1 million campaign to attract Australians from the eastern seaboard to alpine and coastal regions within the central South Island will be led by ChristchurchNZ.

Further north, a $600,000 cycling initiative to attract more Australian holidaymakers to the country’s bike trails will be led by Destination Great Lake Taupō.

Two separate $459,000 projects will be run to draw Australians from the Gold Coast and Sydney to both the lower South Island and heart of the North Island.

These campaigns will be led by Great South and seven associated Regional Tourism Organisations, and Hamilton & Waikato Tourism respectively.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said the coalition wanted visitors to experience more of what New Zealand had to offer.

This included helping the regions shine by supporting local businesses and encouraging tourists to explore beyond the usual hotspots, she said.

“Whether it’s cycling the Great Lake Trails in Taupō, tasting pinot noir in Waipara Valley, enjoying speciality cheese in Ōamaru or admiring Southland’s fiords, our visitors really can do it all,” she said.

“By highlighting time-limited travel and accommodation deals, and regionally distinctive hospitality experiences, we’re making it easier for international travellers to enjoy New Zealand during the quieter autumn and early winter months.”

The campaigns announced today mean all of the $10 million Regional Tourism Boost funding has now been allocated.

The fund has supported a total nine campaigns, the first four of which were announced last November.

The Regional Tourism Boost is part of the government’s $70 million Major Events and Tourism Package, set up to support recovery and growth in the tourism sector.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

As vehicle dashboards rely more heavily on touchscreens, concerns are growing about driver distraction.

The body that oversees safety of vehicles in Australia and New Zealand said it will now reward higher safety ratings to cars that reintroduce physical buttons for basic functions.

ANCAP hoped it would encourage drivers to keep their eyes on the road.

NZ Autocar magazine managing director Richard Edwards told Morning Report there were cars on the market where everything was set through the screen.

“There are pretty much no physical buttons other than a few on the steering wheel, everything right down to windscreen wiper settings and the headlight settings and safety feature settings are all within the screen,” he said.

“Now, that’s not every car, that’s only a very small number of cars that have done that. I think we’re in a period where they’re trying to find the balance as to what you can put on the screen and what you can’t.”

He said there had been studies showing that interacting with touchscreens extended reaction times, which could explain ANCAP’s reasoning.

“I think also they’re getting a lot of feedback from people out there and the media, who are noting that sometimes these changes in design are going a little bit too far.”

ANCAP has a very qualified and experienced team of engineers that do look at these things well beyond my pay grade, that no doubt has some reasons for that decision, Edwards said.

Edwards said the European ANCAP scheme were also looking at rewarding higher safety ratings for buttons.

“ANCAP itself, its biggest influence is really across the Tasman, in that a lot of major fleets will not buy vehicles that don’t have a five-star rating,” he said.

“If vehicles start falling from that five-star rating, the sales will likely go down because fleets and governments and so forth are the biggest buyers of vehicles.

“They do a lot of effort to encourage consumers to buy five-star cars too, and I think there is a very strong feeling within the community that if you’re buying a car, particularly if you put your family in it, or for a business group of staff, that a five-star is what you need to have. So, a five-star is very, very important.”

However, Edwards said there had been discussion in recent years that perhaps ANCAP were making it too hard to get those ratings.

He said it may be pushing with what they’re asking for from companies.

“Particularly in context that New Zealand and Australia have such a small market that it’s very difficult for a car company to build specifically for what our markets want in the context of what they have to build overall worldwide. “

Edwards said if manufactures were to make the changes, the development cycle for vehicles in Europe and Japan was somewhere between four and eight years.

He said that was how long it would take to make physical hardware changes, depending on where they were with the cycle.

But the Chinese development cycle was a lot shorter.

“It’s two to three years. So theoretically, they could come out with those buttons or changes a lot quicker, and the Chinese market particularly are the ones who have shifted very strongly into a screen-only driving environment,” Edwards said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tens of millions of dollars are being paid out in dental grants each quarter – and advocates say the total cost of excluding dental care from the public health system is more than the government would have to pay to fund it.

Dental care is generally only publicly funded for people who are under 18.

Ministry of Social Development data shows that in the March quarter of last year, just under 30,000 dental grants were issued, worth a total of $22.2 million.

Of those, 9330 were recoverable.

The quarter before, there were 28,398 worth $21.098m. In the three months before that, there were 33,045 worth $24,853.

Through 2023, there were similar numbers granted and a total of $90.199m issued in grants for the 12 months.

Dental grants of up to $1000 are available to people on low incomes and with limited assets each year. This does not have to be paid back. Grants above this amount may need to be repaid.

In a recent report, Citizens Advice Bureau said its clients were worried about the cost of dental treatment.

“Clients are finding that dental treatment needs to be deemed as immediate and essential treatment to receive an emergency Work and Income grant. People who are struggling with eating or speaking due to long-term dental issues cannot find funds to cover the dentures required after tooth extraction. Dentists are not willing to remove a client’s teeth if there is no possibility of dentures being purchased.

“Clients are looking at different options, such as creating a dental plan with the dental care provider, going to their local hospital emergency department, arranging food parcels while they pay off dental bills, withdrawing KiwiSaver funds, and seeking help from budgeting services. When clients get recoverable assistance, their benefit is reduced to pay it back, which often leaves them without enough money for basic living costs.”

It said one client had been referred to it by Work and Income because he could not pay for dentures.

“They can only offer an advance which he would need to repay, but as he cannot afford the $60 per week that he would require to do this, they have declined his application…Miles has been required to take medicine for many years causing the issues with his teeth. Despite this medical treatment being needed due to an accident, ACC will not help Miles as they do not cover an injury that is a normal side effect of medical treatment. Work and Income policy states that an emergency grant covers only immediate and essential dental treatment and does not include dentures.”

Data from the NZ Dental Association in 2023 showed that the cost of procedures had risen substantially over the previous three years, in some cases by more than 20 percent.

Green MP Ricardo Menéndez-March said people were getting into debt to get “basic healthcare”. “Leaving people with rotten teeth and pain in their mouth.”

“While the previous government did increase the amount that people could get before they would get into debt, what we are seeing on the list is still a large amount of people requiring ongoing assistance from Work and Income for basic healthcare, which takes us back to our core call, which is that dental care should be put into the public healthcare system, something that the Greens have been campaigning on for several years.”

He said the current system meant the government was effectively subsidising private healthcare.

He said over the years there had been an increase in the need for assistance with dental care.

‘A significant gap’

Hana Pilkington-Ching, spokesperson for the Dental for All campaign, said it was a bigger problem than many people realised.

“It’s a significant gap that leads to a lot of other issues in healthcare but also economically for the country.”

She said the income cutoff for grants was low and they had to be used for urgent and immediate treatments.

“If someone is eligible and they are under the income limit and the savings limit and they’re able to afford the private dental appointments to get the quote because they go to WINZ, once they’re in that position they can only access immediate relief such as extraction. It’s not an effective model to encourage people to access basic preventive care that would prevent them getting into that situation in the first place.”

She said people sometimes ended up in emergency department and inpatient care because of dental infections.

“It’s costing us more as a country for people to not access dental care than it would to make it free for people.”

The New Zealand Health Survey found more than 40 percent of adults had unmet need for dental care because of the cost.

Ministry of Social Development group general manager of client service delivery Graham Allpress said the ministry knew people were finding the cost of living difficult.

“In December 2022, the support eligible people can get for dental treatment through a Special Needs Grant (SNG) was increased significantly from $300 to $1000. At the same time, the requirement for dental need to be considered an emergency was also removed. Instead, the dental treatment would need to be considered immediate and essential to qualify for this support.

“These two changes have meant that thousands more people every year are eligible for financial support to help cover their dental costs. This doesn’t need to be paid back…While treatments such as dentures are not included in this criteria, we may still be able to help pay for it with an advance payment of up to six weeks for a person’s benefit. This is interest-free and needs to be paid back.

“When someone applies for an advance payment of benefit, we are required to consider their existing debt with us and whether they will be able to live with the reduced income as a result of the advance payment. We will also need to consider whether the repayments will allow a person to pay off their debt within 24 months. We set repayments at a manageable level; this is generally no more than $40 per week for a person receiving an advance payment of benefit. When a client is in hardship, we will consider reducing these repayments.”

He said people who were not receiving a benefit might be able to get assistance to help cover essential or emergency costs and this would need to be paid back.

“We have met with the Citizens Advice Bureau and listened to their concerns. We’re happy to look into any example where someone was declined support and explain our decision.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

EB Games is shutting down its New Zealand business and closing all its stores at the end of the month.

In a letter sent to employees last week, EB Games Australia & New Zealand managing director Shane Stockwell said the company was proposing to close all remaining EB Games New Zealand stores and the New Zealand Distribution Centre.

Another letter sent on Wednesday confirmed that EB Games will close its New Zealand operation on 31 January. The remaining stores will close on that day, with the distribution centre permanently closing on 28 February

Stockwell said the company had “numerous” third parties approach the company after it was revealed it was considering shutting down, but “these parties did not present any proposals or solutions about how to keep the New Zealand business sustainable”.

EB Games is an Australian-based video game and pop culture merchandise retailer, owned by GameStop since 2005.

There are currently 38 stores in New Zealand, according to GameStop’s latest annual report, and 336 in Australia.

It is uncertain how many jobs would be lost, and the letter to NZ employees did not mention anything about the future of the Australian stores.

The chain has been facing stress for some time, including closures of stores in both Australia and New Zealand.

In the earlier letter, Stockwell described the New Zealand business as no longer commercially viable, with a “multi-million dollar loss during the 2024 fiscal year”.

He said the retail market continued to be sluggish and the company was not confident its performance would improve.

“We are saddened to be in this position having already made significant and repeated efforts to turn the business around,” Stockwell wrote.

The company said that there may be opportunities for New Zealand employees to relocate and take up work in the Australian EB Games operations.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s job market showed a small lift in November, but overall employment remains weaker than a year ago, new figures show.

Stats NZ’s latest Employment Indicators report found seasonally adjusted filled jobs rose by 0.3 percent (6569 jobs) in November versus October, bringing the total to 2.35 million.

Primary industries led the job increase, up 0.8 percent, while goods-producing industries rose 0.1 percent and services gained 0.2 percent.

But compared with November 2024, the number of actual filled jobs fell 0.4 percent (9113 jobs).

The biggest annual changes were:

• Construction – down 3.6 percent (7,172 jobs)
• Professional, scientific & technical services – down 2.2 percent (4,198 jobs)
• Manufacturing – down 1.6 percent (3,820 jobs)
• Health care & social assistance – up 1.8 percent (4,995 jobs)
• Public administration & safety – up 2.1 percent (3,471 jobs).

Compared with November 2024, Auckland and Wellington saw declines, down 0.7 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, while Canterbury and Otago posted gains of 0.7 percent.

Jobs fell for men by -0.8 percent (9014), and women by -0.5 percent (6421).

By age, the biggest drop was among 15-19-year-olds at -5.2 percent, while 35-39-year-olds had the biggest gain, rising by 2.7 percent.

Despite November having fewer jobs overall, gross earnings rose by $380 million (2.4 percent) compared with a year ago, totalling $15.9 billion for the month.

Overall, employment is inched up in November, but the labour market remains softer than last year, led by weakness in construction and professional services.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Employee confidence has improved slightly, but remains deeply pessimistic.

The Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index rose by 3.9 points to 93.8 in the three months ended December, its highest reading since March 2024.

A level below 100 indicates more households are pessimistic about the outlook than optimistic.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said New Zealanders still see jobs as being in short supply.

“However, there was a slight improvement in the December quarter, consistent with our view that the unemployment rate has peaked at its current level of 5.3 percent,” he said.

Gordon noted the index was improving, but from very low levels. He said there was greater confidence about job security and opportunities in the year ahead, but cautioned the labour market would be one of the last parts of the economy to recover.

“There’s a growing sense that the economy has reached a turning point, although the labour market is typically one of the more lagging aspects of the economic cycle.

“For that reason, we expect only a gradual improvement in the unemployment rate over the course of 2026.”

Current and expected earnings growth remained subdued because of excess capacity in the labour market.

Gordon noted workers would have less bargaining power as inflation returned to target and cost-of-living pressures eased.

Regional variations

Results were mixed across the country, with confidence rising in seven regions and falling in four.

Gordon said confidence had weakened in dairy-intensive regions such as Northland, Waikato, Canterbury and Southland, adding that Fonterra lowering its milk price forecast may have dampened sentiment.

“The recent falls in dairy prices may be weighing on earnings expectations across these regions.”

Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast, Otago and Auckland were the most confident regions.

Wellington was the country’s least confident region, falling 3.2 points to 80.5.

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