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Woolworths (file photo). Photo: Ziming Li The outcome of an investigation into supermarket pricing practices is expected by the end of this year, the Commerce Commission says. Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission on Tuesday launched legal action against Woolworths and Coles, alleging they breached consumer law by misleading customers through discount pricing claims on hundreds of products, local media report. A spokesperson for the Commerce Commission said it would be "watching with interest" to see what lessons could be applied to the New Zealand market. "The Commerce Commission is investigating Woolworths NZ, Foodstuffs South Island, and Foodstuffs North Island in relation to their pricing and promotional practices, with an outcome expected by the end of this year." Consume...

Photo: LDR/SUPPLIED New Zealand King Salmon's half-year profit is down as a result of more fish dying and variability in fish size hitting consumer confidence. Key numbers for the six months ended July compared with a year ago: Net profit $6m vs $10.6m Revenue $101.7m vs $91.6m Mortality cost $8.5m vs $7.8m No dividend vs no dividend Chair Mark Dewdney said the solid first-half result was underpinned by the steady performance of the company's new fish farming approach. "This gives us further confidence that we will be able to deliver strong aquaculture outcomes again this summer. Sales have held up well across all markets and channels, despite global cost-of-living pressures. We are happy with our solid first half result." Chief executive Carl Carrington said salmon losses caused by fi...

Photo: 123rf Employment confidence continues to languish near pandemic era lows as perceptions around job availability deteriorate further. The Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index fell 2.2 points to 89.2 in the September quarter - the lowest reading since the country was coming out of the first Covid lockdown in 2020. A reading below 100 indicated pessimists outweighed the optimists. Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said the biggest driver was households' belief that jobs were becoming much harder to find. Perceptions around current job opportunities tumbled 14.3 points. The measure was closely watched by economists due to its close correspondence with the unemployment rate over time. "Job vacancies have been shrinking for some time, and in the last few months we'...

Data centres are on track to consume 4 percent of the world's electricity by 2026. File photo. Photo: 123rf Building energy-hungry data centres is a boom industry in New Zealand, with international companies keen to reduce their climate impact by using this county's renewable electricity. An analysis by business consultancy EY concluded attracting data centres could be good for New Zealand, if a wave of investment was structured so that it boosted the country's electricity infrastructure, among other things. But with the energy network already stressed, there are calls to make sure any premiums data companies pay to access clean energy here are directed to growing wind, solar and other renewables. The International Energy Agency says data centres are on track to consume 4 percent of the...

There was an 18 percent jump in "low-value goods" between December and March. File photo. Photo: 123rf Spending $50 on a t-shirt might not guarantee it's made ethically - but spending $5 means it's probably not. That's according to two ethical fashion experts, who say more needs to be done to help New Zealanders identify where the things they buy are made - and how they are produced. In recent years, new competition has entered the New Zealand market, and clothing retail in particular, in the form of ultra-cheap platforms such as Temu and Shein. While Max sells women's t-shirts for about $50, Temu lists them at $5 or $7. While Glassons might sell jeans for $60, Shein has them for $20. GDP data shows a steady increase in the imports of "low-value goods" - there was an 18 percent jump bet...