Monday, December 23

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Air NZ profit drops by two thirds to $146m
Business

Air NZ profit drops by two thirds to $146m

Underlying profit of $222m was line with the guidance the airline provided in May. Photo: AFP Air New Zealand's full year profit dropped by two thirds but met expectations, with the second half more challenging than the first. The company's net profit for the financial year ended June is down 65 percent to $146 million compared to $412m the year earlier. The underlying profit of $222m is in line with the guidance the airline provided in May, while revenue grew 7 percent to nearly $7 billion. Chair Dame Therese Walsh said was a difficult year from a macroeconomic and operational point of view, and estimated $100m would have been added to the underlying profit if the airline had been able to operate its aircraft and schedule as intended. Chief executive Greg Foran said the scheduling chan...
LNG imports: Is coal ‘twice as bad’ as liquefied natural gas for emissions?
World News

LNG imports: Is coal ‘twice as bad’ as liquefied natural gas for emissions?

File photo. A gas rig off Taranaki. Photo: Supplied Spending hundreds of millions on building an liquefied natural gas import terminal will not reduce New Zealand's emissions compared with burning coal, says an energy expert. Falling production from offshore gas fields, along with low hydro lake levels, have been blamed for burning more coal at the Huntly power station and increasing New Zealand's emissions. But Sustainable Energy Professor Ralph Sims of Massey University says by the time gas is extracted, cooled, stored and shipped in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG), any climate benefits over burning coal will disappear. The government on Monday announced steps to address an energy crisis which has seen gas and electricity prices spike for many large commercial users and some c...
Is the heat about to go on Fonterra over farming on drained peat?
Business

Is the heat about to go on Fonterra over farming on drained peat?

Photo: 123RF Government officials have been quietly exploring how much carbon dioxide could be saved if the country reflooded its peat soils. The answer was more than four million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - more than Huntly's coal fired power station. Keeping peat drained for dairy farming, mainly in Waikato, allows microbes into the soil where they release carbon built up over thousands of years, producing up to ten per cent of New Zealand's net greenhouse gas emissions. Officials concluded reflooding peat bogs could cut the country's emissions at a cost of $40 per tonne of emissions - cheaper than the current market price of buying a tonne of carbon. But that was on public conservation land. Privately owned farmland, where most emissions come from, is considered more sensitive b...
Two more crew members under investigation following yacht sinking
World News

Two more crew members under investigation following yacht sinking

The British-flagged Bayesian capsized and sunk on 19 August killing seven people. Photo: VesselFinder Italian prosecutors are investigating two more crew members from British tech tycoon Mike Lynch's yacht, along with its captain, in connection with the vessel's sinking over a week ago, a judicial source said. Being investigated does not imply guilt and does not mean formal charges will follow. Lynch and six other people were killed when the British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long yacht, capsized and went down on 19 August within minutes of being hit by a pre-dawn storm while anchored off northern Sicily. On Monday, the boat's 51-year-old captain James Cutfield, a New Zealander, was put under investigation for manslaughter and shipwreck. Cutfield declined to respond to prosecutors dur...
‘Higher income’ doesn’t mean much – financial coach
Business

‘Higher income’ doesn’t mean much – financial coach

Photo: 123RF Higher incomes don't mean a lot for debt-stricken households seeking financial help, coaches and mentors say. FinCap data shows the amount of bank debt recorded in closed cases dealt with by its financial mentors increased from $177 million in the second half of last year to $272.6m in the first six months of this year. Its mentors reported that people refixing larger home loans at higher rates were part of the increase, because more people with mortgages were being supported by financial mentors. Banking Ombudsman Nicola Sladden said her organisation had also noticed a debt crunch. There was a spike in hardship and debt collection cases in July, she said. "High interest rates and cost of living pressures contribute to the volume of the hardship related cases we see. Many of...
At least 10 Palestinians killed in major Israeli raids across West Bank
World News

At least 10 Palestinians killed in major Israeli raids across West Bank

By Ali Sawafta A Palestinian woman in a damaged street at the Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarem after an Israeli army raid on 28 August 2024. Photo: AFP Hundreds of Israeli troops backed by helicopters, drones and armoured personnel carriers raided the flashpoint cities of Jenin and Tulkarm and other areas in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, killing at least 10 Palestinians. The assault, one of the largest seen in the West Bank for months, followed a series of smaller raids in the area over recent weeks as Israeli forces sought to crush groups of fighters from Palestinian militant groups. With Israeli forces battling Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and facing a serious escalation of tensions with Iranian-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Wednesday's operation unders...
What do New Zealand’s influencers really earn?
Business

What do New Zealand’s influencers really earn?

Inland Revenue data shows that New Zealand influencers are on average making less than the minimum wage. Photo: 123rf New Zealand influencers are on average making less than the minimum wage, even when it is their main stream of income. New data released by Inland Revenue based on annual tax returns shows what people are making when working as influencers online - often being paid by companies that want to promote products to their followers. The data covers self-employed or "other" income declared in the most recent tax year and does not include people working for an organisation or business. Inland Revenue said there were 181 people who fit the definition. For 36 percent, influencer income was their main income source. This group had an average income of $46,248.01 in the most recent ...
Iceland volcano eruption raises pollution fears, spa evacuated
World News

Iceland volcano eruption raises pollution fears, spa evacuated

By Isabelle Yr Carlsson and Tom Little for Reuters A photo taken during the night from August 22 to 23, 2024 shows lava and smoke erupting from a volcano near Grindavik on the Icelandic peninsula of Reykjanes. Photo: AFP / Public Defence Department of the State Police in Iceland A volcano spewed lava and smoke over southwestern Iceland for a second day last Friday raising fears of spreading pollution hours after its eruption forced the evacuation of a spa resort. Fountains of glowing molten rock shot into the night sky when the volcano first erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula on Thursday. The flow from the volcano has since slowed, Rikke Pedersen, head of the Nordic Volcanological Centre, said. "We have a quite intense fountaining and high output in the beginning and it rapidly decli...
Best farm stays in Europe
Life Style

Best farm stays in Europe

Despite being a working farm, Tewinbury doesn’t lean only on its abundance of fresh on-site fruit, veg, wheat and barley to turn your head. With four restaurants, a spa treatment room, cinema, cookery school and weekly live music events, it’s as much a celebratory destination as it is a bucolic unwind. Choose from lakeside cabins with alfresco hot tubs, a shepherd’s hut or homely farmhouse bedrooms accented with wooden beams. When you want to work off the effects of one of their Roots communal supper club nights, pull on wellies from the communal boot room, borrow a map and some of the 700 acres. Source link
Challenge to Meridian’s claim households spending less on power
Business

Challenge to Meridian’s claim households spending less on power

Photo: 123RF A consumer watchdog is challenging Meridian Energy's claim that households are spending proportionally less on their power bills because electricity prices are not rising as fast as other expenses. Meridian released its annual report on Wednesday, showing a net profit more than 4.5 times greater than last year. But while big manufacturing companies like Panpac and Winstones have shut down production to cut costs, most households are yet to see big bumps in their power bills. That is according to the companies that generate and sell electricity - commonly referred to a gentailers. Despite its massive profit, Meridian's chief executive Neal Barclay told RNZ the percentage of household spending being directed at power bills had actually gone down over the past decade. "For most...