Business

Businesses are expected to upskill existing staff rather than increase headcount. File photo. Photo: 123RF Rising unemployment is another symptom of the economic stress businesses are under, say employers and manufacturers. June quarter unemployment rose to 4.6 percent - from a revised 4.4 percent - in the first quarter of the year. EMA head of advocacy Alan McDonald said the increased rate was not a surprise and reflected the record high volume of calls to its advice line service. "The struggles facing Kiwi businesses, with the number of requests for help from our members in the areas of restructuring and redundancy skyrocketing this year," he said. "Instead of increasing headcount, we expect businesses to upskill their existing staff in the likes of health and safety and leadership co...

Southern Cross paid out $42 million in claims for cancer treatment in the 2023 year. File photo. Photo: 123RF The increase in the amount of chemotherapy being done by the private sector had been "exponential" in recent years, with New Zealand's largest health insurer paying tens of millions for cancer treatment every year. New Zealanders are increasingly turning to private healthcare to provide chemotherapy due to concerns about wait times in the public system. Medical oncologist and professor cancer medicine Professor Christopher Jackson said the growth has been "exponential". "There has been rapid growth in chemotherapy and radiation services [in the private sector]," he said. He said that was partly driven by the wait times in the public health system, and the availability of drugs t...

Apartments that made a loss were held for a median 4.2 years compared to 2.7 years across all sales that lost money. File photo. Photo: 123rf Auckland apartment owners are taking losses in increasing numbers, new data shows - even when they've owned their units for a while. Corelogic has released its latest Pain and Gain report, which shows the proportion of all properties being sold for more than they were bought for has dropped from 93.3 percent in the first quarter of this year to 92.1 percent in the second quarter. That is the lowest figure since the third quarter of 2015. Of apartments, 35 percent were sold for less than they were bought for, the highest proportion since 2012. In Auckland, 44 percent of apartment sales were for a loss. Corelogic chief property economist Kelvin Davi...

The unemployment rate lifted to 4.6 percent in June. File photo. Photo: 123RF New Zealand's unemployment rate is rising - and there is a warning that job loss could have a lasting impact on workers via "wage scarring". Data on Wednesday showed the unemployment rate lifted to 4.6 percent in June. While that was slightly less than economists had been expecting, it was the highest level in three years. ASB economists said it was likely that the rate would continue to rise to 5 percent by the end of the year and potentially higher next year. "There is the risk that the labour market could weaken significantly from here and this could cause longer-term economic damage if the Reserve Bank keeps as much pressure on the monetary policy brakes." Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said workers could lose ...

Matahina Power Station. Photo: Manawa Energy / supplied Manawa Energy's shares are in a trading halt pending a review of its earnings outlook which was expected to be less than the guidance it provided in May. The renewable power generator was expecting underlying, for the year ending March 2025, to be in the range of $130m and $150 million. However, it said earnings were likely to be down on guidance amid uncertainty about the recovery of money owed by a customer, as well as adverse market conditions. The trading halt was expected to be lifted no later than the NZX market opening on Friday morning. Source link

Photo: 123RF Unemployment has risen slightly while wage growth appears to be slowing in the private sector, although public sector wage growth remains strong. Stats NZ data showed the annual unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in the three months ended June, from a revised 4.4 percent in the previous quarter. The rate was the highest since March 2021 and broadly in line with economists' and the Reserve Bank's expectations. The increase in unemployment has been fuelled by cooling demand for workers and as migration surged to fill previous shortages in the labour market. The level of underutilisation, a measure of slack in the jobs market, rose to 11.8 percent from 11.2 percent. Private sector wages rose 3.6 percent annually, after the previous quarter's 3.8 percent rise, indicating wage...

(file image) Photo: 123RF Kernel's Global 100 fund, which owns 100 blue chip companies across major equity markets, was the best performing KiwiSaver fund of the June quarter, returning 8.9 percent. Morningstar has released its latest KiwiSaver survey, which shows KiwiSaver assets up $3.5 billion over the quarter, and average fund returns ranging from 0.3 percent to 0.8 percent. Kernel founder Dean Anderson said the result was the reflection of strength in international equities compared to the New Zealand market over the past couple of years. "It is also telling that many actively managed funds struggled to beat a global index fund. The difference in fees is a big hurdle, and managers who failed to hold some of the large tech names failed to capture the full returns." The survey noted ...

2023 Pacific Islands Women's Leaders Meeting. (file image) Photo: Pacific Islands Forum A new report by the Asian Development Bank has found that more Pacific women are taking up leadership roles in business, but they continue to face discrimination. The report, published in the second edition of the Leadership Matters series, found the average proportion of women directors in the Pacific rose by five percent - from 21 percent in 2021 to 26 percent in 2024. While Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa and Tuvalu have higher proportions of women directors and chief executives in the region, Fiji and Papua New Guinea are yet to meet the regional average. The report's author Sarah Boxall told RNZ Pacific Waves higher education is key. "We are seeing in the Pacific women are increasingly well educ...

Rising energy costs were a contributing factor to three years of losses at the Penrose mill, the company said. Photo: AFP The country's largest paper and pulp company is considering closing its paper recycling mill in Auckland because power prices are too high. In a statement, Oji Fibre Solutions says its Penrose mill has suffered three years of losses caused by a number of issues including rising energy costs. Chief executive Dr Jon Ryder said the company has looked at improving technology to save money but it hadn't worked. The company could manage its supply of recycled paper for box making and wastepaper collection with other assets, he said. But closing the Penrose mill would reduce capacity to produce recycled paper and increase wastepaper sent offshore. Oji would begin consultati...

Lyttelton Port. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon The Maritime Union is concerned about Lyttelton Port Company in Christchurch's approach to mandatory fitness tests for employees The assessments were introduced at the end of July, recommended by accident investigators after a staff member was killed on the job in 2022 Lyttelton Port Company says it has undertaken consultation with staff and unions The Maritime Union is concerned about Christchurch's Lyttelton Port Company's approach to mandatory fitness tests for employees. The assessments have been brought in following the death of a staff member, Don Grant, while on the job in April 2022. Grant died when he was struck and killed by coal being moved from the port via a conveyor belt and loaded onto a cargo ship by a jet-slinger. At the time...