Business

By Jonathan Milne of Watercare's Taukau treatment plant (file image). Photo: Supplied via LDR When Auckland Council's performance and appointments committee made the decision on a new chair for its giant subsidiary Watercare, it was behind closed doors. The vote was taken with the mayor, his deputy and another councillor absent. A procedural amendment by councillor Maurice Williamson was passed, that the council's independent Māori advisory panel Houkura says breached standing orders - but that rule change enabled engineer Geoff Hunt to win the role. Hunt took up the chair of council-owned Watercare, New Zealand's biggest water company, on 4 July. Now, on application from the council's own advisory board Houkura, the High Court has set aside Hunt's appointment. And ...

Gisborne. Photo: CC BY 2/ Richard Grevers Forget Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch - Gisborne is where the most economic growth was happening in the June quarter, according to new data. ASB has released its latest Regional Economic Scoreboard, which ranks regions based on their annual growth in employment, building consents and retail sales. The three months to June were relatively bleak across the board, ASB said, but senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said easing inflation pressure by the end of the year should mean a brighter 2025. He said he expected unemployment to hit 5 percent by the end of the year and the construction outlook was likely to remain weak, "However, we're seeing some positive signs in the housing market with house sales increasing by 6.8 percent and prices ris...

The administrators said the company and associated businesse were facing cashflow difficulties and could not continue to operate in their current form. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Wellington Combined Taxis is in voluntary administration due to cashflow problems, and could be sold. The company is the largest taxi firm in the capital and one of the largest in the country, with 330 cabs operating as either owner-drivers or lease operators. Iain Bruce Shephard and Jessica Jane Kellow of BDO Wellington have been appointed as joint administrators of the taxi company, as well as the associated businesses Wellington Combined Properties and Combined Finance Limited. In mid-2023, Wellington Combined faced legal action from several drivers which BDO said had led to internal disruption and a lar...

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...

By Brianna Morris-Grant, ABC Photo: Supplied Supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles have been accused of using their "Prices Dropped" and "Down Down" promotions to mislead Australian shoppers. The two companies now face separate legal action in Federal Court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC announced it was launching legal action on Monday morning, with chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb saying the organisation aims to seek "high penalties" in court. Here's what we know about the allegations. Supermarket prices increased 'by at least 15 percent' Both supermarkets allegedly offered certain products at their regular price "for at least 180 days", according to the ACCC. The price of each product was then allegedly increased "by at least 15 percent for...

Companies claim more time in the office improves work output and communication. File photo. Photo: Unsplash / Kate Sade Businesses are asking staff to work at the office more than at home now that the height of the Covid-19 pandemic is over, but many employers says flexible working options will continue to be offered. The government said yesterday that remote working arrangements for public servants were not an entitlement and should be closely monitored, following similar moves by many businesses. Early this year, 2degrees ramped up the number of days it expects office staff to be in the workplace, from two to three and a half days a week. Chief business officer Andrew Fairgray said that was because more time in the office improved work output and communication. "We leverage the benefi...