Business

Photo: Supplied / Transpower Transpower is expected to reveal on Thursday whether or not it will let generators take more water from hydro lakes to combat the current power shortage. It wants to increase the buffer applied in calculating the Contingent Storage Release Boundary (CSRB) from 50 GWh to 320 GWh from 1 September 2024 until 1 October 2024. Latest figures from Transpower show national hydro storage is at 55 percent and is among the lowest levels ever recorded for this time of year. 'Severe effects' on the environment The idea was open for consultation, with 11 submissions made in total. One was from The Guardians of Lake Hāwea, a group who ensure that Lake Hāwea's water quality, biodiversity and ecosystems are maintained and managed sustainable and safely. Chair Geoff Kernick s...

Du Val Group has been placed in statutory management. File picture. Photo: nito500/123RF Government puts Auckland property developer Du Val Group and subsidiaries into statutory management Minister says group has significant liabilities and affairs complex Work to continue on active building projects Statutory management rarely used Authorities have tightened their control of Auckland property investor and developer Du Val Group by having it placed in statutory management. The government sought orders from the Governor General on the advice of financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which initially had the group placed in receivership in early August. Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly said the Du Val group had significant liabilities and its position was so comple...

A number of parents who had taken paid parental leave complained they had been tax bills of thousands of dollars. (Stock image) Photo: Supplied/ NZ Human Rights Commission Nearly 30 percent of people who take paid parental leave are then sent tax bills, Inland Revenue data shows. Earlier this year, a number of parents who had taken paid parental leave complained they had been handed bills of thousands of dollars. Tax data from Inland Revenue shows that the number of people who had been on paid parental leave in the last tax year and ended up with a bill was on par with recent years. There were 13,261 paid parental leave recipients who had been found to owe tax in the 2024 year, or 27 percent. That compared to 28 percent last year and 29 percent the year before. Deloitte tax partner Roby...

Laybuy has been bought by a Swedish firm, that says the service will be relaunched. Photo: Screenshot Laybuy is coming back. The buy-now-pay-later provider announced in June it was reporting receivers, blaming an economic downturn that had been more drawn-out than expected. Customers were told they could not make new transactions from that point. Swedish fintech company Klarna said on Wednesday it had bought Laybuy's asserts in New Zealand and planned to relaunch the service in the coming weeks. The company said Laybuy's customers would "benefit from a revitalised platform". "Laybuy established itself as a cherished brand in New Zealand and we're excited to build on those foundations to take Laybuy to new heights under the Klarna umbrella," said Klarna chief commercial officer David Syk...

Photo: 123RF Mercury has more than doubled its full-year profit, as operating earnings improved thanks to high wholesale electricity prices and changes in the value of unhedged financial assets. Key numbers for the 12 months ended June compared with a year ago: Net profit $290m vs $103m Revenue $3.42b vs $2.73b Operating earnings $877m vs $841m Final dividend 14 cents per share vs 13.1 cps Mercury said hydro generation of 4096 gigawatts was down 21 percent on the prior year's record generation as lake levels fell due to low rainfall. Operating earnings rose by $36 million, supported by an increased trading margin of $1.23 billion (up $65m from 2023), driven by high wholesale power prices and new wind generation from the Kaiwera Downs wind farm. Its net profit w...

Budgeting how to is finding fans on social media. Photo: IGOR STEVANOVIC / SCIENCE PHOTO Social media trends tend to focus on holidays, partying and dining out - it's all about spending money to feel good. But some influencers are encouraging their followers to save money instead. American comedian and influencer Lukas Battle went viral at the beginning of 2024 for promoting the idea of loud budgeting. It was all about being vocal with your financial decisions. Lara Meyer from New Zealand finance site Sorted said while loud budgeting requires some courage it was good for your bank account in the long run. "There's always gonna be times in life when we need to make the decision that 'actually, I can't afford this', and it does take a little bit of courage." "I'm in that situation at the ...

File pic Photo: Unsplash / Abdul Zreika Fletcher Building has reported a full year loss of $227 million, with revenue little changed from the year earlier. The building company's underlying profit was at the low end of expectations at $509m but still down 35 percent on the year earlier. Key numbers for the 12 months ended June compared with a year ago: Net profit $227m vs $235m (included $301m in one-time items) Revenue $7.683b vs $7.679b Underlying profit $509m vs $785m Full year dividend nil vs 34 cents per share Acting chief executive Nick Traber said the result reflected slowing demand, inflation and competitive pressures. He said market volumes fell over the year, with New Zealand down 25 percent and Australia down 15 percent on the year earlier. "We expect the year ahead to rema...

Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit Photo: Zespri / supplied Kiwifruit company Zespri continues to crack down on illegal plantings of its SunGold variety in China with three people being sentenced to nearly four years in jail for their involvement in the trade of the fruit. Chinese growers have been illegally planting SunGold or G3, which Zespri owns the rights to, since 2016 when a grower took clippings to China. Zespri has since been working with authorities there to crack down on fraudulent plantings and use of counterfeit packaging. The company said as part of ongoing legal activity to protect the Zespri brand, it recently completed successful prosecutions against three individuals in China for online sales of locally grown fruit with counterfeit Zespri labels to the value of more than NZ$700,...

Photo: 123RF Gender inequities in the workplace lead to talent being lost, poor decision making and lower profits, a professional development expert says. A new survey has found 61 percent of women in leadership positions think gender equality at work has not improved or is worse than five years ago. Professional development group Leadership for Good conducted the survey of more than 100 women working as leaders in New Zealand businesses. It found more than half faced challenges balancing work and personal life and received unequal pay for equal work, while many experienced gendered micro-aggressions. Founder and director Sue Watson said inequality is bad for business. "Companies have often invested heavily to pull these women through their talent pipelines and then a third of them leave...

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Healthcare and animal products company EBOS has posted another year of strong profit growth, with revenue exceeding $13 billion*. Key numbers for the 12 months ended June compared with a year ago: Net profit $271.5m vs $253.4m Revenue $13.12b vs $12.24b Underlying profit from continuing operations $303.4m vs $281.8m Underlying margin 4.35% vs 4.43% FY dividend of NZ $1.18 per share vs $1.10 per share *All numbers quoted in Australian dollars unless otherwise stated AUD$1 = NZ$0.91035 The company's total net profit increased 7.2 percent on the previous year, while revenue increased 7.8 percent. Chief executive John Cullity puts the performance down to strong growth in the company's community pharmacy and institutional healthcare divisions. The healthcare busin...