Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rocket Lab has won a US$190 million (NZ$327m) contract from the United States Department of War, formerly the Department of Defence, for a series of hypersonic test flights using its HASTE launch vehicle.

It is the largest single contract in the NZ-founded company’s history and lifts its total order backlog to more than US$2 billion (NZ$3.44b).

The four‑year agreement covers 20 test flights of Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) rocket, a modified version of its Electron launcher designed to carry suborbital payloads of up to 700 kilograms at speeds above Mach 5.

The launches will be carried out under the Multi‑Service Advanced Capability Hypersonic Test Bed (MACH‑TB) 2.0 programme – a partnership between the Department of War and the Naval Surface Warfare Centre Crane Division that aims to accelerate hypersonic flight testing and related technologies.

Rocket Lab has already conducted several HASTE missions since 2023 under the MACH‑TB programme.

Rocket Lab founder and chief executive Sir Peter Beck said the expanded partnership with the Department of War and MACH‑TB would help strengthen US national security by providing rapid and affordable hypersonic testing.

“Our advanced technology, responsive launch schedules, and mass production of our HASTE hypersonic rockets are enabling faster progress across a range of hypersonic experiments by our government and industry partners,” he said.

Sir Peter described the new deal as “another proud moment for the team that builds the strength and resiliency of the United States’ aerospace efforts”.

The contract takes Rocket Lab’s launch backlog to 70 missions, and the company has sold 28 launches in the first quarter of 2026 – almost as many as it sold during the whole of 2025.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Economy grows 0.2 pct in December quarter, 1.3 pct on year ago
• Data at the low end of expectations
• Previous quarter revised to 0.9 pct growth from 1.1 pct
• Primary sector and tourism industries lead growth
• Manufacturing flat, construction sector contracts
• Data not likely to change Reserve Bank holding cash rate at 2.25 pct next month.

The economy posted tepid growth at the end of last year as the rural sector and tourism growth offset soft manufacturing and weak construction before the Middle East conflict threatened to stymie recovery.

Stats NZ data showed gross domestic product (GDP), the broad measure of economic growth, rose 0.2 percent in the three months ended December, to be 1.3 percent higher than a year ago. On an annual average basis, the economy grew 0.2 percent over the year.

Expectations were for quarterly growth in a range of 0.2 to 0.5 percent, although the growth of the previous quarter was revised lower to 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent.

Stats NZ spokesperson Jason Attewell said it was the first time the economy had posted annual growth in more than two years.

“GDP has now risen in three of the last four quarters.”

Turned the economic corner

The strongest sectors were primary industries, which grew 0.9 percent, and service industries, which make up about 70 percent of the economy and grew 0.7 percent.

Attewell said strong spending by overseas visitors in the quarter boosted a broad range of businesses.

“This flowed through to parts of the economy that service tourism, such as rental car hire, retail trade [and] accommodation.”

Exports of goods and services were up 0.1 percent, with higher meat and forestry exports offsetting lower dairy sales.

There were positive contributions from real estate and financial services, retail, recreation, and energy and water industries.

The main drag on growth was from construction, which was down 1.4 percent on the previous quarter because of a fall in non-residential building.

Individual shares of the economy – per capita GDP – were unchanged for the quarter, to be 0.4 percent lower than a year ago.

The country’s purchasing power (disposable income) was also flat for the quarter, but 1.5 percent ahead of a year ago.

Derailed recovery ?

The GDP reading has already been discounted by economists as historical information overtaken by the Middle East conflict.

The latest monthly partial monthly read on inflation and a further slip in consumer confidence driven by a surge in fuel prices are seen as pointers for future activity.

Forecasts before the hostilities were for a gradual pick-up in growth this year to more than 2.5 percent, rising towards 3 percent in 2027.

The Reserve Bank last month held the official cash rate (OCR) at 2.25 percent and signalled rates would be held at an “accommodative level” to support the economy.

Economists have highlighted the uncertainty caused by the US/Israel-Iran war and its ability to derail economic activity through higher inflation, disruption to supply chains, and dampening of household and business demand and activity.

New Zealand’s quarterly growth rate was the same as or close to those in the US, UK, EU, and Japan, but lagged Australia’s 0.8 percent.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Four years ago, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were everywhere.

The tokens, which provide digital ownership of an asset, often art, were being traded and promoted by celebrities in New Zealand and around the world.

Former All Black Dan Carter co-founded Glorious, to help artists sell their digital art in the form of NFTs. Rich-lister Craig Heatley reportedly invested.

Brooke Howard-Smith co-founded NF Labs, with a series of Fluf World NFTs, and at one point partnered with rapper Snoop Dogg.

But while it was reported that more than US$2.7 billion in NFTs was being traded at the peak of the market, it now looks like quite a different picture.

In 2023, researchers said, across 73,000 NFT collections, 95 percent were valued at zero ether – the ethereum cryptocurrency used to buy them.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, which Justin Bieber is reported to have spent more than US$1m for a slice of, is estimated to be down 97 percent from its all-time high.

CryptoPunks are down 89 percent. Mutant Ape Yacht Club is down 98 percent.

Forbes said this week Bored Ape Yacht Club had a floor price of US$12,000 – down from a peak of US$394,764.

University of Otago senior lecturer Olivier Jutel said the drop had been dramatic.

“There is myriad reasons for that but essentially if I had to put it in a nutshell, people have been grasping around for some essential use chain for the blockchain. And Web3 and NFTs were the most frothy sort of future vision here.”

He said it was unlikely there would be a resurgence.

“I really don’t think so … Facebook spent $40 billion on the metaverse … but nobody wanted this.

“Essentially our economies are so bedazzled and captured by number go up, valuation, financialisation, that it’s so unmoored from the real economy.

“I know the real economy could be a problematic concept, but crypto, blockchain and Web3 are the height of this kind of complete detachment.”

But University of Auckland commercial law professor Alex Sims said the underlying technology of NFTs could still be useful, even if NFTs had been overhyped.

“[You] can make a loose analogy with NFTs and the dotcom bubble.

“Lots of enthusiasm, massive bubble but the underlying tech and infrastructure was built, as well as the beginning of a culture shift … Although, unlike the dotcom bubble it’s unlikely that many NFT projects will grow to large ones, unlike say Amazon, Google, Netflix, eBay …”

She said some NFTs still had value but many did not.

“They aren’t worth the stupid money that people were paying for them … a lot of the big name NFTs are worth a fraction of what they were bought for if people bought them at the top of the market.

“But many are still worth money, just a lot less than some people paid for them.”

She said Damien Hurst’s The Currency project and its Tender NFTs could have more lasting value than some other NFT projects because they had a famous artist behind them.

“While the Tender NFTs have fallen from around US$29,000 in February 2022 to about US$1880 each, if people bought the NFTs directly when they released for US$2000 – then they haven’t lost that much money, just over 10 percent.

“As I said quite a few times at the time of the NFT bubble. Only buy an artwork NFT if you like the artwork or you want to support the artist. Don’t buy them for speculation as you are likely to lose your money. And I’ve predictably been proven right.”

Swyftx NZ country manager Paul Quickenden said there were a few things people could think about if they were weighing up similar new investments that might pop up in future.

“I think that the key tenets are always the same … is there a good sound business case or use case for the project or whatever they’re trying to do?

“Can you identify the team and are they reputable? Does what they’re trying to do make sense?

“It’s also a question of time. In any transaction, there’s a buyer and a seller. And the seller is thinking that the time is right to get out.

“And the buyer is thinking there’s more opportunity for it to go up. And only one of those two people are going to be right.”

He said just because people were “piling in”, it did not mean it was a good time to buy.

“You have to evaluate the project, but also just what’s going on in that market? Because if it feels very frothy, then there’s a really good chance that, you know, you might be caught up in a wave that’s going to crash.”

Glorious and NF Labs have not yet responded to requests for comment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Housing market activity has got off to a slow start this year, Cotality says.

The property data firm said sales volumes in February were 6.8 percent lower than a year ago, after a 7.8 percent fall in January.

It was the first time in almost three years that sales had declined in two consecutive months.

Values were stable, up 0.2 percent in the month although still down 1.2 percent on a year earlier.

Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said buyers were cautious.

“December activity looked unusually strong, so some of the recent softness may reflect timing rather than a new downward trend.

“But even allowing for that, the housing market is still in a phase where buyers are taking their time.”

He said it was possible that some people brought forward property deals in December to take advantage of cashback incentives from the banks.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s the start of a downwards trend or anything, given mortgage rates are down, and the economy’s showing signs of recovering, and confidence seems to be recovering a little bit.

“But I guess just a good reminder that there’s still a bit of caution out there. Buyers are still cautious, sellers are still cautious, you know, the market’s certainly not rushing anyway.

“We’re still seeing that in property values. They’re pretty flat, even the markets that are probably more resilient are still not seeing a boom…buyers know they have the power.”

First-home buyers were still a significant force in the market, responsible for 27 percent of purchases across January and February.

Davidson said improving affordability and lower mortgage rates helped.

“KiwiSaver withdrawals continue to play a role in helping buyers assemble deposits, while the banks’ low-deposit lending allowances are also supporting access to credit.

“In some cases, mortgage repayments can now look similar, or cheaper than rents, which can encourage tenants to move from renting to buying if they’re able to save for or access a deposit.”

People moving from one owner-occupied property to another were 26 percent of purchases and investors 24 percent.

Davidson said those movers would be a segment of the market to watch this year,

“When confidence is up, when job security is up, movers tend to relocate or trade up or get that house in that better suburb or the bigger house or whatever.

“During the last couple of years, they’ve been quiet because that economic backdrop has been pretty subdued.

“If we can get a sustained recovery this year, you’d anticipate that movers would start to become a bit more active and trade up, that sort of thing.

“So that’s definitely one I’m keeping an eye on. It’s not there yet.”

Rents still soft

Rents continued to be soft, he said.

MBIE bonds data shows the median national rent fell by 0.8 percent in the three months to January compared with a year earlier.

Davidson said the combination of softer population growth and already high rent levels relative to incomes was limiting further increases.

“Rents have already risen significantly in recent years, and wage growth has eased, so there isn’t a lot of scope for further increases at the moment,” he said.

“More likely we’ll see a period of flat or only modest rental growth while the market adjusts.”

Davidson said there were a number of forces that would act on the market this year. He said war in the Middle East could affect job confidence, which might slow the market.

“It’s not difficult to imagine that things sort of trend sideways for a while.”

But he said there was also a wider mindset change happening.

“We are going to be able to look back in hindsight and say, yep, that was the point where the market did change a little bit.

“But I detect at more and more things I go to, more and more people I talk to, audiences I hear from and talk to … just a bit of a psychology change going on.

“I think people are coming around to the idea that ever rising house prices isn’t necessarily the best thing. And maybe we’re at an interesting turning point, potentially, where people do start to question that assumption that property prices will always go up.

“I think we’ll still see property price growth, but it might be a bit lower in future than it’s been in the past.”

About 60 percent of mortgages by value will refix over the next 12 months.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The nationwide outage that affected some 2degrees mobile customers, preventing them from making or receiving calls, has been resolved.

The company confirmed the outage in a network status update on its website at 3.12pm on Wednesday.

A few hours later, 2degrees said mobile calling, SMS, and data services had been restored and were operating as normal.

“A small number of customers may continue to see issues with the data clock or the 2degrees mobile app, which our teams are actively investigating.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience.”

It is not known how many customers were impacted.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

ANZ is the latest bank to increase interest rates.

It is increasing its 18-month to five-year rates by 20 basis points, and its one-year rate by 10 basis points.

Its six-month special rate remains at 4.49 percent.

It is also increasing the rates it pays on term deposits by between 15 basis points and 40 basis points.

The three-year rate is now 4.4 percent, which the bank said was an 18-month high.

ANZ managing director for personal banking Grant Knuckey said it was a response to rising wholesale interest rates.

“Since the fixed rate changes we made in February, wholesale rates have continued to rise across all terms.”

Knuckey said customers were still seeing the benefit of earlier cuts to interest rates.

“Seventy-eight percent of ANZ’s fixed home loans are now on rates below 5 percent, a significant shift from the end of 2024 when fewer than 10 percent of loans were on rates below 5 percent.”

Economists and forecasters have been split on the likely outlook for rates.

While tension in the Middle East is likely to be a damper on the economy, it is also expected to fuel inflation.

Earlier, Squirrel chief executive David Cunningham said there could be merit in fixing for six months, on the assumption that the economy would be weak enough that the official cash rate was unlikely to rise in that time.

But Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said two-year rates were offering good levels of certainty at reasonable prices.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A nationwide outage is affecting some 2degrees mobile customers, preventing them from making or receiving calls.

The company confirmed the outage, which is listed as ‘under repair’ in a network status update on its website at 3.12pm on Wednesday.

“We know some 2degrees customers are having difficulties making calls on their mobiles. We’re sorry for the hassle and rest assured our technicians are working hard to fix this for you.”

It is not known how many customers are impacted.

More to come.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Economic growth estimated at 0.3 percent in three months ended December, annual growth 1.5 percent
• Primary sector, tourism industries the best; manufacturing flat, construction weak.
• Figures are expected to confirm economy was turning corner
• Historic numbers have been rendered almost irrelevant by Middle East conflict
• The conflict at best will slow recovery, at worst derail it
• RBNZ faces a dilemma – support growth or fight inflation

The economy is expected to have shown improving growth at the end of last year, in a set of historic numbers rendered almost irrelevant by the Middle East conflict.

Economists expect gross domestic product (GDP) – a broad measure of economic growth – rose around 0.3 percent in the three months ended December, compared to the Reserve Bank’s February forecast of 0.5 percent. The annual rate is forecast to have risen to 1.5 percent.

Kiwibank economist Sabrina Delgado said the numbers would be stale.

“To be honest, it’s probably going to be one of the most dated GDP report cards in recent memory.”

She said the growth numbers were always delayed, but the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and the impact of rising prices, supply chain disruptions and the like had changed the picture entirely.

For the record, the numbers are expected to show the primary sector and tourism related industries doing well, manufacturing broadly flat, and construction weak.

“It was another quarter of strong visitor arrivals with plenty of indicators pointing to a lift in transport, arts and recreation, and retail trade and accommodation,” Delgado said.

That was then, this is now

ASB senior economist Kim Mundy said the data would confirm the economic direction of travel, although growth was not as vigorous as the previous quarter’s 1.1 percent. The per capita growth measure was expected to be positive for the second quarter in a row, reflecting better household finances.

But the conflict has changed that.

“The economic consequences for New Zealand from the war depend on how long it lasts, but so far, the risks to economic growth are firmly skewed to the downside,” she said.

The risks were clearly being driven by the surge in oil prices, which have already driven pump prices and would flow through to the price of other goods and services, giving an inevitable lift to inflation.

Treasury has forecast a worst case scenario of inflation hitting 3.7 percent this year if the conflict persists, a forecast some see as too conservative.

The inflation spike and softening economic performance give the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) a dilemma – to tackle inflation, implying interest rises or to support the economy with “accommodative” interest rates.

Economists do not expect the RBNZ to have any kneekerk rate reaction to the price spikes at its 8 April statement, and ANZ senior economist Matthew Gault said a softish GDP number might have the central bank seeing more slack in the economy, and therefore more capacity to absorb price rises.

“However, we wouldn’t want to overplay this given the uncertain outlook, and also recalling that annual inflation at 3.1 percent isn’t coming from an entirely comfortable starting point.”

Delgado said it was not just the inflation spike, but the impact on sentiment and demand.

“It’s yet another wave of uncertainty for Kiwi households and businesses. And there is a real risk that it derails our recovery in the same way Trump’s liberation day tariffs did last year.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Energy Minister Shane Jones says there is no need for fuel restrictions at this stage, as the government provides the latest update on stocks.

And the latest data shows New Zealand continues to hold “healthy levels of petrol, diesel and jet fuel” according to Finance Minister Nicola Willis.

“As at midnight on Sunday 15 March, combined petrol, diesel and jet fuel stocks equated to about 49 days of cover nationwide, including fuel held onshore in storage terminals and fuel already on ships bound for New Zealand,” Willis said.

That was slightly down from last week, but Willis explained the change reflected normal patterns of consumption.

“They are not a sign of supply disruption.”

Willis said fuel supply is inherently dynamic, with stock levels fluctuating week to week as it was consumed and new shipments arrived.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will now also report on the pipeline of fuel shipments on their way to New Zealand.

More than a week’s worth of fuel was scheduled to arrive in the coming days.

Jones said the government was working with industry to strengthen the frequency, quality and timeliness of fuel stock and shipping data.

“This is critical to ensuring we can identify emerging risks early and plan appropriately.”

His expectation was that fuel companies were responsive and continuing to work constructively with the government as the situation evolved.

“All indications are, so far, that New Zealand is well-placed to deal with the fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“I want to be clear that at this stage, there is no need for fuel restrictions. Introducing rationing or restriction measures before there is clear evidence of a genuine shortage won’t create more fuel in the system.”

Jones said if the situation changed, the government would communicate that information quickly, along with plans in place to deal with any issues.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Shoppers are bracing for more food price rises, but the Grocery Commissioner has put supermarkets on notice about their margins.

Foodstuffs NZ managing director Chris Quin told Morning Report that there was likely to be pressure on food prices as conflict in the Middle East pushed up oil prices. Food prices were already up 4.5 percent year-on-year in February, before the impact began to be felt.

Quin said while it was hard to say at this point exactly how large the impact would be, it would become more of a problem the longer the conflict continued.

He said Foodstuffs was hearing from suppliers that they were under pressure too.

Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden told Midday Report that he had told supermarkets that the Commerce Commission’s expectation was that if prices increased, they dropped as soon as they could as well, and that supermarkets were not seeking additional margin.

“Discussions with suppliers about the pressure they are facing should be done in good faith, as per the grocery supply code.”

He said supermarkets had indicated that as of yet, the additional cost was not being passed on.

“It’s dependent on how long this war continues, how long they can do that.”

Van Heerden said grocery margins had come down a bit in recent years and then stabilised.

“I would expect to see them stable or come down,” he said.

There was increasing competition in Auckland, he said, but other parts of the country were still only served by the duopoly.

The Commerce Commission is currently running an anonymous survey of supermarket suppliers to check for any concerns in the sector. He said small and medium suppliers were often scared to raise issues.

One shopper, Delwyn, said she was now spending about $500 a week on food for her family of five. She had to shift to chicken and pork mince instead of beef, which has risen [. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/589814/mince-records-biggest-annual-increase-since-data-began more than 20 percent] in a year in price

She said supermarket shopping could be a depressing and disheartening experience.

Earlier, Gemma Rasmussen, Consumer NZ’s head of advocacy, told RNZ that she was concerned about the potential for supermarkets to push up prices amid the conflict.

She said when Cyclone Gabrielle hit the Hawkes Bay, she spoke to a producer who provided an example of a produce item that was affected by the floods.

“This resulted in the store price going from $3.50 a kg to $9 to $14.

“They said, if it’s sold for $3.50 retail, the supermarket is buying it for around $1.99 wholesale. It ended up reaching $4.50 wholesale, but despite this, it ended up being sold in the supermarkets for as high as $14.

“One supplier spoke of an instance when the margin a major supermarket made on a frozen product was close to 60 percent. He’s currently selling frozen produce with an alternative retailer who is ‘a dream to work with’ and takes only a 25 percent margin.”

She said the country could do well to look at what Australia was doing to moderate supermarket prices.

“From 1 July 2026, it will introduce a specific excessive pricing regime for very large supermarkets that will ban prices considered excessive in relation to supply cost plus a reasonable margin. If one of the big players breaches these rules, it will face penalties of up to A$10 million, three times the benefit gained, or 10 percent of turnover.

“In effect, this is a direct attempt to curb price gouging and hold major supermarkets accountable where mark-ups are excessive and unjustified.

“New Zealand could benefit from a similar regime. Long-term structural reform has so far done little to meaningfully reduce supermarket pricing pressure, and with cost-of-living concerns continuing, households remain exposed to pricing that may be difficult to justify.”

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