Business

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

Photo: Alexa Cook/RNZ The proposed closure of two large North Island mills is already hurting the local economy in Raetihi, with people moving away and businesses feeling the pinch. The forest products company Winstone Pulp International is looking at closing its entire operation due to high wholesale power prices, which will result in 230 jobs lost. Raetihi's Coach Cafe and Takeaways owner Angie Robson told RNZ it has been much quieter since the mill announced its plans to close last week. "The first day they mentioned it we stood around for an hour and a half in the evening, and we've never ever stood around and done nothing. "People are just being really careful, they're not spending, some already moving out of town," she said. Raetihi's Coach Cafe and Takeaways has been quiet sinc...

ANZ's economists are predicting house prices will rise 4.5 percent next year. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon A stronger-than-expected housing market rebound is a possibility as interest rates fall, the country's biggest bank says. ANZ's economists expect a small fall in house prices over this year, and values to stabilise towards the end. Next year, they expect prices to pick up 4.5 percent - a little less than BNZ's forecast of 7 percent. They earlier said that the recovery from this downturn is harder to predict because it has been a policy-induced recession rather than something caused by external factors. It was not clear how much activity, including the housing market, was simply deferred rather than cancelled, they said. They said were some early signs that the housing market might bo...

An illustration of Far North Solar Farm's consented 38-hectare solar farm in Marton, Rangitīkei. Photo: Supplied / Far North Solar Farm A solar power company getting government investment aims to produce 15 percent of the country's daytime electricity. The $78 million deal between Crown-owned New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) and Far North Solar Farm signed on Tuesday will connect five of the company's sites to the national grid. The five sites were in different stages of development with several entering the construction phase, Far North Solar Farm director Richard Homewood said. He said the investment would allow them to rapidly accelerate development, and most sites would be under construction within 12-18 months, Homewood told Morning Report. They would produce the equi...

a2 Milk has about a 20 percent stake in Synlait. Photo: Getty Images Former CEO John Penno has questioned who can vote at a special meeting. He says two major shareholders providing a rescue package should be barred. Bright Dairy and a2 Milk have bankrolled a $218m cash injection. The Synlait chair says if a deal is not approved, the company will go into insolvency. The former head of dairy company Synlait Milk is threatening to upset a vital meeting to save the financially strapped business. The company said it had received a complaint from former chief executive and chair John Penno, that Synlait's two major shareholders Bright Dairy and a2 Milk should not be allowed to vote on the $218 million capital raising. The two big companies are putting up all the money needed, which wou...

The task force will consider regulation to help independent companies to compete. Photo: 123RF A new task force is bringing together market regulators to investigate factors behind skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices. The Energy Competition Task Force has been established by the Electricity Authority and Commerce Commission to improve market performance and put in place measures to help address the current crisis. Electricity Authority Board chair Anna Kominik said regulation could be used to ensure independent generators and retailers were better able to compete. The task force had already met and was considering how to enable new generators and independent retailers to enter and better compete in the market, she said. Kominik said they aimed to provide more options for electrici...