Business

Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles A commercial Hawke's Bay garlic grower has been accused of a social media smear campaign, misinformation and bullying and racially attacking smaller domestic producers to discredit them online. The squabble has predominantly played out on the garlic gurus NZ Facebook page, centred around debate over claims of an allium white rot (AWR) outbreak and which landowners are responsible for the fungal disease. Te Mata Garlic's Chris Morrison is facing allegations of scaremongering by falsely claiming to have been tasked by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and other industry bodies to compile data on growers as part of an "industry investigation". MPI has denied investigating an AWR outbreak. Morrison also left a comment on an international 150,000-member garli...

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran says it wants to explore more routes to India - once it is through the tough economic "headwinds" buffeting the airline. The national carrier had seen many passengers travelling to Singapore and then taking other airlines to India and it would like to explore more routes when it can. On Thursday, the national carrier posted an underlying profit of $222 million in the year to June - a drop of more than half. And the company's net profit for the financial year was down 65 percent to $146m, compared to $412m a year earlier. Although the result was expected - in April, it downgraded its full-year earnings guidance - the airline did not anticipate profits to be flying high any ti...

The survey showed businesses expecting better profits, planning to invest more, and hold onto staff or even hire. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King A new ANZ business survey shows confidence generally at 10-year high Firms are most upbeat about their own outlook in seven years More firms plan to raise prices, but inflation expectations are down Business confidence has surged to its highest level in a decade, amid falling interest rates and expectations for an economic upturn. ANZ's survey for August showed general sentiment rose 23 points to a net 51 percent optimism, the highest since May 2014. The more closely followed own activity measure showed a 21-point rise to 37 percent optimism, a seven-year high. Chief economist Sharon Zollner said the business mood had been improving before...

Glenbrook steel mill. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King NZ Steel says the government's up to $140 million investment in its electric furnace should repay itself in about three years, because taxpayers will be liable to supply the company fewer free carbon credits. Carbon savings from NZ Steel's new electric furnace have been upped to 1 million tonnes a year, and brought forward to the end of 2025. Chief executive Robin Davies said the furnace, which will slash coal use at its Glenbrook plant, will only need 40 minutes' notice to switch off in times of electricity shortages, something it agreed to do in its contract with Contact Energy. The new furnace will recycle scrap steel instead of melting ironsand. The amount of steel produced will remain the same. Davies said firming up the desig...

Winstone Pulp International's Raetihi premises, in the central North Island. Photo: Alexa Cook/RNZ Winstone Pulp International, which employs 230 workers across two large North Island mills, is looking at closing its entire NZ operation due to high wholesale power prices Its main supplier, Mercury, denies it is to blame, saying its contract with Winstone was "significantly lower than spot prices" Mercury posted a net profit for 2023/24 of $290m, a 159 percent increase on the year before Local mayors are lobbying the government to crack down on "price gouging" Ministers have been meeting to discuss how the government could help businesses struggling due to high wholesale power prices Mercury Energy and forestry products company Winstone Pulp International at are loggerheads over ...

Data shows there has been a shift towards smaller investors who only own one property beyond the home they live in. Photo: 123rf New property investors are dipping their toes in the market, Corelogic says. Its data shows that although mortgaged property investors' share of the market has remained flat at about 21 percent or 22 percent, within that there had been a shift towards smaller investors who only own one property beyond their owner-occupier home. "People who have bought their first rental," said chief property economist Kelvin Davidson. "The cliched 'mum and dad investors'." He said conditions were still not overly favourable for property investors but with mortgage rates dropping, and term deposit rates also falling, people with money in the bank might be tempted to look at inv...

Meridian chief executive Neal Barclay said the economics of producing green hydrogen at scale had become more challenging. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Plans to build a green hydrogen facility in Southland have been shelved. The proposal started making headlines in 2021 when Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter looked set to close, and it [ https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490469/southland-s-just-transition-gets-funding-boost received government backing]. Meridian Energy says the economics have become more challenging to produce green hydrogen at scale in New Zealand. Chief executive Neal Barclay says they believe that Southern Green Hydrogen is well placed to be a competitive opportunity when the time is right. Meridian Energy has paused plans to build one of the world's largest-scale ...

Photo: 123RF Meridian's boss denies the energy company is profiteering and insists they've invested in the sector despite making millions in profits and dividend payouts. 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, the companies that generate and sell electricity say most households are yet to see big bumps in their power bills. 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. Consumer NZ said that was because many people were restricting electricity usage to cut costs. Barclay told Morning Report that w...

The government is being urged to factor in the significant economic benefits that international visitors bring when considering the international visitor levy. Photo: Supplied/ Air NZ A tourism industry body is concerned millions of dollars could be jeopardised That's if the international visitor levy is hiked to $100 and travellers are deterred The $35 levy, which was introduced in 2019 to help visitors contribute more, is under review Tourism Industry Aotearoa is warning the government could put millions of dollars at risk if the international visitor levy is hiked to $100. Earlier this year, the government consulted on whether the levy should remain at $35 for most visitors or be increased to $50, $70 or $100. The money raised goes towards tourism infrastructure and conservation...

Photo: 123RF An abrupt drop in demand from China and the loss of a major customer in North America has led honey company Comvita to report a full year loss of $77.4 million. It's a big turnaround from last years $11.1 million profit. Revenue fell from $234m to $204.3m. Sales in China fell by over $19m or 17.6 percent to $89.8m in the 2024 financial year due to economic challenges. The company said the cancellation of major shopping festivals in the country as well as weak sales in another event severely impacted demand for Comvita's products. Sales in North America fell 26.6 percent to $26.1m. Comvita said the loss of some distribution with one major customer had a significant impact. Chief executive David Banfield said the results were extremely disappointing, particularly after three c...