Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

ASB Bank has reported a flat half-year profit as higher expenses offset higher improved lending and margins.

Key numbers for the six months ended December 2025 compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $765m vs $763m
• Cash profit $719m vs $714m (excludes one-offs)
• Total income $1.84b vs $1.78b
• Operating expenses $839m vs $695m
• Bad debt provisions $3m vs $17m
• Net interest margin 2.35% vs 2.29%

The bank’s profit showed improvement in key areas of increased lending, larger margins, and improved income, but was balanced by a significant rise in expenses because of the settlement of the a class legal action over credit disclosures.

Chief executive Vittoria Shortt said the bank was seeing signs of economic improvement and that was flowing through into business.

“We are seeing more confidence in the economy, supported by lower interest rates and good export earnings in key sectors.”

“This is evident in the uptick we’ve seen in business lending, with more lending growth across small business, commercial and rural this half than in the previous financial year,” Shortt said.

Overall lending rose 6 percent to $118.7b, with housing loans up 8 percent, and rural and business lending 4 percent.

Total customer deposits rose 5 percent.

Banks have been competing for market share in the housing market, amid falling interest rates and large numbers of borrowers refixing their mortgages.

Net interest income – the difference between what the bank borrows at and charges for loans – increased 8 percent, while net interest margin, regarded as a measure of profitability, rose six basis points to 2.35 percent because of timing effects from interest rate hedges.

The amount set aside for bad and doubtful debts fell to $3m from $17m.

Expenses surge on case settlement

ASB’s operating expenses surged 21 percent to $839m, mostly because of the $135.6m out of court settlement of a class legal action brought by former consumer for alleged breaches of credit disclosure rules.

ASB never accepted liability, but said the settlement was a “pragmatic” way to settle the issue.

Shortt said ASB had spent more on improving its anti-scam defences and engaging with affected customers.

She said the bank, owned by Australia’s CBA, was also improving its technology to simplify its processes and offer better products to customers, as well as advance its own lending for social housing and business technology investment.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – NZ Post is closing service counters and cutting delivery days. What is the future of mail going to look like?

So, is mail delivery as we know it just going to vanish?

Not so fast, says NZ Post CEO David Walsh, who says the agency is in the midst of a massive transformation in the face of rapidly dropping mail numbers.

“New Zealanders are communicating differently,” he said.

“I think we’ve all experienced that in our personal lives as well, and that change has been going on for quite some years.”

Here’s what you need to know about how NZ post is changing.

What’s happening to NZ Post?

The agency is in the middle of what it’s called “a period of transformation,” shifting its emphasis towards parcel delivery and consolidating many of its services.

In October, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment approved changes to the Postal Deed of Understanding between the Crown and NZ Post, allowing them to change some of their procedures.

The changes approved include:

• Permitting a minimum frequency of 2 days delivery to urban, PO Box and private bag addresses, or 3 days for rural. The days must be spread throughout the week. Formerly, 3 days per week urban and 5 days rural were required.
• Allowing a minimum 500 total postal service points, then down to a minimum of over 400 after four years. Previously a minimum 880 points were required.
• The ability to convert up to 5 percent of delivery points to communal points annually.

For consumers, this boils down to likely fewer delivery days and postal counters.

Deed change doesn’t automatically result in operational change to NZ Post’s services, Walsh has said, but it gives the network more flexibility to make changes.

It announced back in 2024 that it would be gradually combining its two separate mail and parcel networks into one operation.

“For customers – this means your mail and parcels will eventually be delivered by one person, rather than two separate deliveries made by a Postie and a Courier,” Walsh has said.

That’s all basically because mail volumes have dropped dramatically.

How bad has it gotten?

“It wasn’t that long ago we were delivering 700, 800 million mail items a year,” Walsh said. “We think in the next 12 months that could be well under 150 million mail items.”

According to NZ Post’s latest annual report, 158 million mail items were delivered in fiscal year 2025, down from 187m in 2024, while 88 million parcels were delivered, up from 84m in 2024.

“Parcels have grown significantly over the last three or four years, and mail has declined significantly in the same time,” Walsh said.

New Zealand addresses currently receive less than two letters each per week, compared to 7.5 in 2013, a spokesperson told RNZ.

The service has started to move back upwards after heavy losses – after a $56m loss in 2023, there was a $14m loss in 2024, and a $2m loss in 2025, according to their annual report.

The transformation toward parcel delivery is still in progress, Walsh said.

“When and how that happens we’re still progressively working our way through change, but that will depend on where volumes get to over the next few years. It’s too early to say exactly when.

“We believe it’s a good solution to maintain a great mail service.”

Consolidating parcel and mail delivery into one would be more economical, he said.

“Having one person deliver down the street is clearly more efficient than having two, so that is the goal.”

So, we’ll get mail less often?

Although the changes to the Deed of Understanding now lets urban delivery be as few as two days a week, that hasn’t happened so far.

“We haven’t moved to twice a week yet, that is still something that will respond to as we see changing demand for mail services,” Walsh said. “If there is a permanent change in frequency we will certainly communicate that in advance.”

It’s hardly a transformation unique to New Zealand. Mail services around the world have been dealing with lower volume and higher costs. Last year, Denmark became reportedly the first country in the world to end its national letter delivery service entirely.

John Maynard of the Postal Workers Union of Aotearoa recently criticised some of the cuts and changes on RNZ’s Midday Report.

“It’s one thing that people will want to use emails over the old traditional mail system, but it’s quite another thing for a state-owned enterprise to act in a manner which consistently undermines people’s confidence in an institution.”

Could you no longer get mail delivered to your house?

That’s one of the concerns raised by the union to RNZ late last year.

The Deed of Understanding now allows for up to 5 percent of delivery points annually to be changed to communal points – such as a cluster of boxes which service multiple addresses on a street.

Maynard told RNZ the suggestion to stop delivering to individual home letterboxes was “sort of hidden away in the document”.

“Putting the letterboxes in clusters makes it easier for the company to sack all the posties and have them delivered by vans which wouldn’t have to stop at your house, they’d put your mail at the end of the street,” he said.

However, Walsh said, the changes were more geared towards new developments, such as entrances to apartment buildings.

“There is both what the deed permits and what I expect us to continue to do”.

NZ Post also said in a statement, “we do not have widespread plans to move to communal delivery, and customers who currently have an individual letterbox can expect their delivery to continue as normal.”

While the deed does allow for consolidation of some delivery points, Walsh said, “From the perspective of NZ Post, if you’re in urban New Zealand and you have a letterbox outside your house, it’s almost certain we will continue to deliver to your house.”

However, he said NZ Post needs flexibility for new subdivisions or developments in rural areas.

“That will mean that we can continue to offer good service to those areas.

“As more households come on, that’s more points for us to deliver, but every site is having less mail be delivered too, so that makes it incredibly expensive for us to maintain to those new sites being developed.”

The Deed of Understanding says that “Any proposed change requires reasonable notice and community engagement before any conversions.”

What about my local post shop? Is it closing?

NZ post also announced recently that it would close 142 service counters in convenience stores, pharmacies and libraries around the country, leaving 567 still operating.

Walsh said NZ Post had a “robust process” looking at what services were being used the most and where, when it came time to decide on closures.

“The data I have at the moment is that about around 90 percent of urban New Zealanders will be within 4km of a retail site” once the changes are in effect, he said.

To find out what’s happening in your area see the NZ Post Website list.

NZ Post says it has invested $290 million into infrastructure and automation.

NZ Post has also opened up new retail hubs for sending, collecting and returning parcels in Auckland, with more planned around the country, and five large processing centres.

How will these changes affect people who rely on the post?

The decision to close outlets has upset some smaller communities, who worry about the impact on older customers or those without easy access to alternatives.

Manjit Singh has a postal service in his shop in the rural Waikato town of Te Kauwhata, and told RNZ recently the decision to close it “doesn’t make sense to me at all”.

“Right opposite my shop, there’s an old-age home, and people quite enjoy our service. They will have to go to Huntly or Pukekohe.”

“It’s easy for millennials and younger generations, but older people will really struggle,” Springfield Superette owner Raj Kumar of Rotorua told RNZ recently.

Stuart Dick is the chair of the board at the Magazine Publishers Association and general manager at Are Media which publishes weekly magazines including the New Zealand Women’s Weekly and the Listener.

“It is concerning that NZ Post are neglecting their core service and customers by reducing delivery days,” he said.

“Thankfully there are alternative delivery networks growing to provide some coverage, and the majority of magazines are sold via retail outlets.

“However this does not absolve NZ Post of their core purpose to ‘Deliver what people care about’ which includes the magazine subscriptions that our readers love, along with many other things Kiwis rely on their national postal network to deliver.”

Walsh said NZ Post was aware of those concerns.

“We will continue to work with those senders that have specific time requirements around them. We may not have perfect answers for everyone but we are absolutely committed to working with those senders to see what we can do to support their requirements.”

He said NZ Post’s goal was to make the changes with as little disruption as possible.

“It’s not easy, it’s clearly going to have impacts on some people, but we’re trying to get that balance right.”

Will mail ever go away entirely?

Asked if NZ Post as we know it is just going to vanish entirely at some point, Walsh said it was simply responding to changes in the culture.

“The way New Zealanders communicate, what they choose to receive, is choices that we don’t make, so we are responding to those changes and that’s really what we’re reflecting.”

NZ Post’s pivot to parcels also means it is more directly competing with services such as Aramex and DHL.

“It is a very competitive delivery market out there,” Walsh said.

“I’m proud of how well NZ post both competes and operates. We have made some pretty significant investments over the last few years to make sure we can continue to scale up our parcel and parcel delivery services.”

However, the Postal Union’s Maynard told Midday Report he was still concerned about what the future might hold.

“I think we’re going to see some more reductions in NZ Post services allowed for under the deed. I think this sort of thing will continue, pressure from the government, for NZ Post to cut costs and give the cash back to the government.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

It is “business as usual” at Air New Zealand despite a number of flight cancellations affecting thousands of passengers as a result of strike action.

Flight attendants working aboard the airline’s Boeing 777 and 787 long range aircraft will stop work on Thursday and Friday after failing to agree on terms over pay and conditions.

Flight Attendants’ Association president Craig Featherby said his members would rather not strike but the union had tried everything to reach a deal with the airline to no avail.

Featherby said an original plan for three days of strike action was reduced to two.

Air New Zealand chief customer and digital officer Jeremy O’Brien told Morning Report it had proactively contacted all customers affected by the flight cancellations and offered alternative flights across its airline as well as its partner airlines.

The “vast majority” had been offered travel dates within a few days either side of the strike action.

Flights most affected were heading to North America and Asia, he said.

O’Brien said he appreciated that not all offered flights would suit every customer and a full credit or refund was available for those in that situation.

They could also claim “reasonable costs” involved with the disruption, like if accommodation was impacted by the changes.

O’Brien said disruptions to flights were “part and parcel” with what happen for airlines operating around the world.

“This is no different than other disruptions that we manage on an ongoing basis. It’s just part of business as usual.

“The key thing for us is when we know that we’ve got a disruption to the schedule that we go out and offer as many alternatives and options as possible to the customers and in this case, the whole business is rallying around and been able to do that.”

Questioned if industrial action by its flight attendants was a bit more than “business as usual”, O’Brien said the cause of disruptions was irrelevant for customers.

It was more about what the airline would do to get them where they needed to go, he said.

Air New Zealand respected the flight attendants right to strike and it was reacting as a business – which meant focusing on what options were available to customers, he 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

Bitcoin’s value has dropped by about half – but are investors who buy the currency now really getting a bargain?

Bitcoin’s price dropped through the latter half of January and then sharply on Waitangi Day.

It has lifted a little since then but is now worth about NZ$115,631 compared to a peak of more than NZ$212,000.

Sharesies chief financial officer Toni Moyes said it was a factor of the volatile macroeconomic environment and the nomination by United States President Donald Trump of Kevin Walsh to chair the Federal Reserve.

“That signalled that we may be in a higher-for-longer interest rate environment which does in turn make risk-on assets a bit less attractive to investors.

“We’ve also got the very unstable geopolitical environment impacting that risk appetite. Then globally there was this phenomenon of the liquidation of a lot of long positions for traders using leverage to bet that the price of Bitcoin will go up.

“They were proved wrong and their positions closed out that way and that accelerated that decline we saw last week. That does sometimes happen in crypto because there is a lot of leveraged trading behaviour.”

But she said it was not new and the market tended to be cyclical. Investors would usually be invested for the long run, she said.

“It is one of the more volatile asset classes … the last week has seen one of the steepest declines in the last couple of years but it’s certainly not unprecedented in the 17-year history of Bitcoin … if you look at the last week or two the results have been negative whereas if you look over the last two years we’ve seen the asset appreciate more than 50 percent.”

She said 38,000 customers had bought crypto on the Sharesies platform since the option became available in October. Waitangi Day was its biggest crypto trading day yet, she said, with $3 million trading.

“Most of that was buying rather than selling so we’re not seeing people panic sell and crystallise losses. What we are seeing is people just staying on their strategy. For every $1 sold, $4.50 was invested. The vast majority of that behaviour was people taking the opportunity to buy Bitcoin and some of them coming in and achieving a lower price.”

University of Otago senior lecturer in finance Muhammad Cheema said similar drops had happened in the past. Bitcoin dropped 47 percent on a single day in March 2020.

“It is difficult to assess whether Bitcoin will recover in the near term. Unlike shares in listed companies, Bitcoin does not generate income, cash flows, or dividends that can be used to estimate an intrinsic/fundamental value. As a result, determining whether it is ‘undervalued’ is challenging.

“Critics argue that Bitcoin has no fundamental value and its price largely depends on the ‘greater fuel’ theory – the expectation that someone else will pay a higher price in the future. In December 2024, Chicago Booth economist and Nobel laureate Eugene F Fama predicted that Bitcoin could fall to zero within the next decade.”

University of Otago economist Murat Ungor agreed there was significant risk and said bitcoin was behaving more like a volatile tech stock than a stable store of value, as some proponents have argued it can be.

“Bitcoin functions less as a currency and more as a high-risk speculative asset. Recent research shows it moves in tandem with stock markets, meaning global uncertainty tends to hurt rather than help its value. In short: it’s exciting and headline-grabbing, but it’s not a safe harbour, and timing the market is anything but straightforward.

“In general, movements in Bitcoin’s price are highly volatile and difficult to predict in the short term. A price decline does not necessarily mean it is a good buying opportunity, as the cryptocurrency market is driven by speculation, global liquidity conditions, and regulatory developments rather than fundamental value in the traditional sense.

“For most investors, Bitcoin should be considered a high-risk asset, and any decision to invest should depend on individual risk tolerance and portfolio diversification rather than short-term price movements.”

Ungor said research rejected the idea that it would be a safe haven through periods of market turmoil.

“Instead, it characterises Bitcoin as a speculative digital asset that’s highly sensitive to stock market movements. This means rising global uncertainty tends to weaken rather than strengthen Bitcoin’s value.

“The bottom line: Bitcoin is an exciting technology and makes great headlines, but it’s also a volatile, high-risk investment, not a stable store of value. Timing the market? That’s anyone’s guess.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Consumer NZ is warning that power prices could rise at least another 5 percent this year, after a 12 percent increase in 2025.

Powerswitch general manager Paul Fuge said he thought that was a conservative estimate.

An increase of that size would be mainly driven by the next step in the process of increasing lines charges, he said.

As of 1 April last year, the amount lines companies could charge increased. The first step was predicted to be the biggest but there could still be changes year on year through to 2030.

“There has been some pressure on the electricity prices on the wholesale market so we might see some lifts in the energy price as well which is kind of residual from that dry year we had a couple of winters ago making its way through to retail prices.”

He said the experience around the country could vary. “I’ve seen some power bill [increases] already that are higher than 5 percent… it really depends on where you live and which retailer you’re with and what plan you’re on.”

He said it was common for prices to rise from 1 April but some retailers might choose to move at other times

Fuge said because New Zealand’s system was heavily reliant on renewable energy, it was subject to the vagaries of the weather, and retailers would price in the risk of a dry year, even when it did not happen.

“The pattern seems to be every three or four years we do have a dry winter and our storage is actually quite low, we’re never more than three or four months away from potential problems.”

He said prices were now 60 percent higher in real terms than when the market was reformed 25 years ago.

The Electricity Retailers Association earlier said electricity costs had been flat or declining in real terms for a decade but retailers had been passing on cost increases such as higher lines charges more recently.

“It’s quite a bad situation. So, you know, we saw a 12 percent increase last year,” Fuge said.

“It’s a massive jump in electricity prices … household gas had a 17.5 percent increase last year.

“It’s actually causing harm to households and the economy.”

Fuge was not convinced the plans for a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki were the right solution.

Energy Minister Simon Watts said on Monday a contract was likely to be signed by the middle of the year. he said the facility would give more security and peace-of-mind for New Zealanders.

Fuge acknowledged it sought to mitigate the dry year problem.

“I just think there are better ways to do it. You can’t make cheap electricity with expensive fuel.

“It does seem like a bit of an own goal …we’re lucky in New Zealand, there’s so many low cost renewable options. The fact that we’ve sort of been backed into importing high cost fuels, you know, is a real own goal.”

He said people could still save money by shopping around, or moving to time-of-use plans if they could move when they used power.

“We would advise to have a look now. But it may be, for some people, you might want to wait until post 1 April to make sure you don’t get caught out with a price change.”

The government no longer funds Powerswitch and has plans to set up its own comparison site but Fuge said Consumer intended to keep it operating.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rachel Brant was hoping 2026 would be a big year for her speed dating business, but a decision by payment provider Stripe to cut her off has left her scrambling for an alternative.

Brant started the business seven years ago with another single mother friend. They took over an organisation in Wellington known as The Choice Speed Dating, and rebranded it Speed Dating Wellington.

They set up a website on Squarespace and integrated the Stripe payment system, and had been running events successfully since.

Just over a year ago, she bought her friend out and expanded the business to offer a wider range of events around the country, operating as Speed Dating New Zealand.

But then, as she prepared to host a Christian speed dating event, she found people were not able to make their payments.

“A few weeks ago Stripe decided to stop processing payments for my business because it is a restricted category – a dating site.

“This had not been a problem for more than six years. I moved my payments to Squarespace payments and that was all up and running, until last week, when I realised there were no bookings coming in because the payment system had been suspended, and they had not even informed me. Squarespace payments have now also closed my account.

“At this stage it looks like my only option is to move my website to a different platform and hosting service and link to a different payment system. I am hoping to be able to just afford to do this, as at this time of year I have limited funds due to the Christmas and New Year break from running events.”

She said she had tried to contact Stripe and was told that dating sites were a restricted business type. “I contacted them and said I actually run face-to-face events, I’m more of an event organisation, but that wasn’t an option as a business type.”

Brant said it was probably a situation where she had missed something in the fine print – “because we never would have imagined it would have affected us”.

But it was a body blow to her business.

“I’m really small. I didn’t even actually pay myself any income last year. I ran the events pretty much at break-even, it covers a little bit of my internet and phone.

“I’m looking to grow it. This year was really meant to be a growth year of running a lot more events around the country and a bigger variety.

“I’m running neurodivergent speed dating and ethical non-monogamy and the Christian speed dating, trying to offer something for everybody … it just feels like everybody’s trying to take you down and make it harder. And when you’re one person trying to run something and you’re not a technical expert, you’re not a website designer, it all costs extra money getting help with these things.”

She said she was having to push events out and contact everyone who had made bookings.

“I’m having to try and process refunds but I can’t use my payment system … it sets everything back. It’s been a really cool thing, running speed dating. I love bringing people together. I do it because I really enjoy it. But, now that I’ve stepped back from my full-time job because of my kid’s health issues, I need this to actually work now. And I was so excited about this year … it’s a big part of who I am now.

“I don’t want it to go under. I did almost kind of go, ‘I can’t fight this. It’s too hard’. But I don’t want to do that.”

Emma Geard, a senior associate at law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, said payment service providers such as Stripe often declined to work with businesses based on a combination of legal requirements, fraud risk, and reputational concerns.

“While dating services aren’t typically on prohibited lists, providers often restrict businesses they perceive as high-risk for chargebacks or fraud, those operating in legally complex areas, or those that might create reputational issues with banking partners or card networks. The specific reasons for any individual business being declined aren’t always transparent, and providers have broad discretion in these decisions.

“The ‘reputational risk’ category has proven particularly controversial, as it can lead to exclusions of legal businesses based on subjective judgments rather than clear regulatory requirements. This has affected industries ranging from adult content platforms to legal cannabis businesses in jurisdictions where they operate lawfully. While payment providers are private companies acting in their own commercial interests-managing risk, maintaining banking relationships, and protecting their brands-there’s growing recognition that as digital payments become essential infrastructure for participating in the modern economy, questions of access and potential discrimination deserve public policy attention. The tension between a company’s right to choose its customers and concerns about essential service access remains an evolving debate, but it remains in the early stages.”

Banking expert Claire Matthews said it seemed surprising. Other options could be Qippay or Worldline, she said.

A spokesperson for Stripe said it did not talk about individual users but had a policy on restricted businesses. “Certain businesses, including online dating and matchmaking, require additional due diligence by Stripe in order to confirm our ability to support them. This is due to various reasons, including requirements that apply to Stripe as a financial infrastructure platform and requirements from our financial partners.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Standards New Zealand has been invited by Standards Australia to take a seat at the table following many years of being unable to pay the price to join.

The change follows an agreement by the Australian and New Zealand governments to fund New Zealand’s participation in the development of joint standards, which were essential to trans-Tasman trade.

“Standards Australia has been well resourced over the years, while Standards New Zealand was the poor cousin, and NZ businesses were having to pay to participate in joint standards development,” BusinessNZ director of advocacy Catherine Beard said.

“As a result of the cost barrier, and the 100 percent user pays model operating in New Zealand, there were about 500 joint standards that were de-jointed since 2016.”

She said New Zealand businesses will, however, continue to fund the expenses associated with travel and other expenses incurred by New Zealand’s contributing experts attending the standards meetings.

“Joint standards are needed as Australia and NZ are each other’s biggest market for manufactured exports and given the closeness between the two economies and business sectors.

“This has been particularly challenging for construction and building industries, where safety could be compromised through inadequate standards.

“Industry standards are needed for product safety, regulatory compliance, successful exporting and importing, efficiency, consistency, and many other needs. All manufactured items must be manufactured to recognised standards. All recognised trade training in NZ is linked to Standards,” she said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Carpet maker Bremworth earnings hit by tough trading
• Company under takeover offer from owner of main rival Godfrey Hirst
• Cash return to shareholders likely to be less than first estimated
• Commerce Commission has concerns over proposed takeover

Shareholders in carpet company Bremworth have been told they will likely get less cash in the hand if a proposed takeover by the owner of their main competitor goes ahead.

The company has been made an offer by the world’s biggest flooring company US-based Mohawk Industries, which also owns competing brands Godfrey Hirst and Feltex.

It has offered 75 cents a Bremworth share, with the offer to be topped up by a distribution of excess Bremworth capital, which was estimated at the time between 30 and 40 cents a share, taking the total takeover price to between $1.05 and $1.15 cents a share, valuing Bremworth at between $70 million and $77m.

In an update on the proposal, the company said its earnings were struggling and it may not have as much spare cash as originally thought to pay to shareholders if the takeover goes ahead.

“The trading conditions that Bremworth has faced have been more difficult than anticipated. This has impacted Bremworth’s earnings, and resulted in a deterioration of Bremworth’s cash position.”

It said the capital return to shareholders now looked to be 20-30 cents a share, reducing the total takeover price to 95c-$1.05.

“Bremworth emphasises that this estimate is based on assumptions of market conditions, business performance and the timing of implementation. It therefore remains subject to change,” the statement said.

The takeover, which is backed by the Bremworth board, is being considered by the Commerce Commission which has issued a list of concerns including the prospect it would substantially lessen competition, impact prices, and that it might reduce choice for consumers.

The commission has extended its decision deadline to mid-March, but Bremworth said that might be pushed out again to mid-to-late May.

Bremworth said if the takeover does not proceed it was likely its finances would worsen.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Thousands of New Zealanders have borrowed from their banks to put solar power systems on their houses, but advocates are calling for more help for people who don’t have a home loan.

The main banks all offer low-or no-interest loan options for people who want to invest in solar power for their homes, often by extending an existing home loan.

Westpac’s managing director of product, sustainability and marketing Sarah Hearn said the bank had approved more than 1000 “greater choices” loans for solar panels or batteries in the past two years, as well as a small number of personal loans.

The total amount lent was $30 million.

ASB said its Better Homes Top Up lending balances were $327 million, and around 4500 customers had used Better Homes Top up in the previous 12 months alone.

ANZ had a similar offer that had been taken out by 21,000 households to a total of more than $850 million.

‘Super excited’ about New Zealand’s energy transition

Chief executive of Rewiring Aotearoa Mike Casey said he was “super excited” about what was happening in New Zealand’s energy transition.

“A lot of the time we talk about moving from fossil fuels over to electricity, but I think there’s a bigger energy transition that’s going on here, which is also moving away from traditional energy landlords and towards customers of New Zealand taking a lot of energy sovereignty into their own hands.

“Being able to generate and store energy, it’s a whole new dynamic to the New Zealand’s energy system that we haven’t seen before.

“And while the price of all forms of energy, whether it grid electricity or diesel or petrol or gas, continues to go up at, I think, quite an uncomfortable rate for many New Zealanders, the price of solar and batteries seems to keep coming down.”

A typical system can cost between $9000 and $15,000 installed, although some systems are much larger.

Casey said while taking on a loan to pay for it was a form of debt that some people found uncomfortable, “choosing not to generate your own electricity on your own rooftop is another form of debt because you have to just keep paying someone else for the energy that they can provide you”.

He said a conservative estimate was that a system would pay itself back in seven or eight years.

“It really comes down to the number of people that are in your home, how much of that solar you generate you can self-consume. And a lot of it comes down to making sure all the machines in your home are electric.

“The more electric machines you have, like your hot water and your spatial heating and all of those kinds of things, the more of your own power that you use, the faster the payback on the solar is.”

Electricity comparison site Powerswitch tracks the buy back rate that companies pay for solar power that is generated, but not used and sent back to the grid.

It varies from 23c/kWh during peak period from Octopus through to 8c from Contact.

Casey said the next step should be support for batteries.

At present, many households do not opt for battery storage of the power generated because the cost makes it uneconomical.

But Casey said it could be part of helping the country shore up its defences against things like natural disasters.

“I would love to see the government come out and say, you know, we think a massive roll out of solar batteries and electrification in the homes of New Zealanders is the best way to bring down our cost of living because it genuinely is.”

Australia has about 40 percent rooftop solar covering compared to 3 percent to 4 percent in New Zealand.

That has been driven by government subsidies, including for batteries.

“They’ve seen 200,000 home batteries get installed in the last six months. It’s bigger than the peak response of Manapouri. It’s like building another entire dam.

“And at the moment, the energy system in New Zealand doesn’t recognise or reward customers from having batteries.”

But he said people who did not have mortgages or own their own homes were being left out.

Long-term low interest loans

Rewiring Aotearoa is working on a Ratepayer Assistance Scheme that would offer long-term low interest loans tired to a property with flexible repayment terms, building on the New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency.

These would have longer terms than the bank options, making them more manageable for people on lower incomes.

It said eight councils, plus EECA, had committed the further funding required to get the scheme ready for final equity investments from councils and central government.

“There’s a big problem here with equity and that not all New Zealanders have access to a mortgage.

“Pensioners, renters – we’re looking at what else can we do outside of mortgages for people to have the upgrades on their homes that allow them to start saving money.”

He said the ratepayer assistance scheme would be good for pensioners who had cleared their home loans and did not have the income to service the sort of loan that banks would offer them.

Rewiring Aotearoa is also working on a trial to look at solar for renters.

“How do you get the landlord to spend the money and how do you split the savings between the tenants and landlords?”

How long to pay power system off?

Investigative writer at Consumer Chris Schulz said it would take seven to nine years for a solar power system to pay for itself.

People who were high energy users, such as those with an electric vehicle, would see a quicker return.

He said it was likely that when New Zealand reached 5 percent coverage, it would be a “tipping point” for the new technology.

“People start seeing it when they’re out walking or on their neighbours’ roofs and start thinking oh yeah, okay – now might be a good time to look at this.”

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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 University of Auckland researcher says there may be a way to turn Lotto into a new type of Bonus Bonds, to leave players much better off.

Senior finance lecturer Gertjan Verdickt and co-author Amaury De Vicq from the University of Groningen, studied what happened after the Dutch government banned the sale and purchase of traditional lotteries in 1905, but allowed lottery bonds as an alternative.

These were a fixed-income product that let people invest while also going into a prize draw.

People were guaranteed their money back plus interest, with the additional chance of winning a big prize.

“Lotto is often defended because it funds community projects, which is fantastic, but it can disproportionately draw spending from people on lower incomes,” Verdickt said.

“Maybe the government could move towards supporting people to put money into something where they get a safe return, and the chance for a big win.

“A premium government-led bond-style product could fund public projects, while allowing New Zealanders to grow their money rather than lose money week after week.”

The researchers found that overall, people who were less wealthy put more money into lottery bonds, while wealthy individuals decreased their holdings.

“The magnitude of the move towards lottery bonds indicates that these bonds could be considered a substitute for gambling.”

The researchers found younger people were less likely to take up lottery bonds, while older individuals showed a stronger move into them after the policy change.

Verdickt said the regulation of gambling had always been a challenge for governments.

“Our study shows the Dutch government’s lottery bonds were helpful; they channelled people’s urge to gamble into an instrument that also encouraged saving.”

He said governments like New Zealand’s might introduce a lottery bond as a safer alternative to playing Lotto.

“Of course, these days people have so many options online and in-person when it comes to gambling. You can’t ban the urge to gamble, but you can guide people towards safer channels.

“The lottery bond offered by the Dutch government, for example, wasn’t a perfect investment, but it did provide a better option for many people.”

ANZ offered Bonus Bonds in New Zealand until 2020. When the scheme closed, it had more than $3 billion invested.

Investors had one entry per bond into a monthly $1 million prize draw.

But at the time the decision was made to close, ANZ said low interest rates had reduced the investment returns of the scheme and the prize pool available.

Verdickt said the sort of scheme he had researched was different because it was issued by municipalities and governments, not for-profit companies.

He said the scheme was also different because the Bonus Bonds payout was drawn randomly.

“Lottery bonds have a guaranteed payout and the additional lottery aspect is drawn randomly. So, 99 percent of bonus bonds holders got nothing, while 100 percent of lottery bond holders get something – interest and principal – but only a small percentage get the large prize.”

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