Blog

A public meeting has been called in Raetihi over concerns for the community's bleak future if the district's main employer shuts shop. Photo: LDR / Moana Ellis Residents in the small central North Island town of Raetihi are calling for support as the community faces uncertainty over the threat to its mills. Mayors, councillors, politicians and government agencies were expected at Tuesday night's community meeting in Raetihi, called after Winstone Pulp International (WPI) announced plans to shut its Karioi operations with the loss of 230 jobs. Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said both the Karioi Pulpmill and Tangiwai Sawmill employed a significant number of workers from Taihape. Photo: A number of Rangitīkei companies also provided services for the mills. "We're affected, and will b...

Manapōuri Power Station on the western arm of Lake Manapōuri in New Zealand. Photo: 123rf Recent heavy rain and strong winds are easing the pressure on the power supply and providing a much needed boost to hydro lake levels, Meridian says. In the last three months, Meridian's two catchments in Fiordland and the Waitaki had received the least amount of inflows into the lakes that the company has ever seen. But the weekend's rain has meant storage at Lake Manapōuri was now above average for the first time since mid-June and storage at Lake Pūkaki started improving. Meridian Wholesale general manager Chris Ewers said it was a welcome boost. "The weekend saw some moderate rainfall to help lift lake levels and it's good to see more rain in the forecast across the week," Ewers said. "It's a ...

Photo: 123RF Campervan company Tourism Holdings (THL) says its underlying profit of $52 million has met expectations, despite a difficult trading environment. However, the net profit for the year ended June fell 21 percent to $39.4m, with revenue up 39 percent $921.7m. "There is no doubt that the last six months have been particularly difficult for parts of the business, chair Cathy Quinn said. However, she said the New Zealand and Australian rental businesses, had each delivered strong profit results and were well positioned for growth. Chief executive Grant Webster said the overall performance was mixed with the underlying profit less than what the company hoped to achieve, given weak economic conditions. He said New Zealand rentals and sales, Action Manufacturing, and New Zealand tour...

The BNZ is making further cuts to its home loan rates. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon The BNZ is making further cuts to its home loan rates. The bank has cut its fixed rates by between four and 20 basis points, with longer term rates seeing the biggest fall. Read more: After OCR cut which home loan rate should you choose? OCR coming down - how far will home loan rates fall? It comes as wholesale interest rates move lower following the Reserve Bank's official cash rate cut on 14 August. Some banks lowered their lending rates immediately after the OCR announcement and others followed suit. The BNZ's popular 18-month rate was now 5.99 percent, and the two-year rate was at 5.89 percent. It followed a cut to its home loan rates on 20 August, and a move to stop charging first-home buyers and ot...