Business News

Acting chief executive John Ombler told parliament’s finance and expenditure committee the CBD projects are worth an estimated $1.1 billion, and more projects are being announced to rebuild the heart of Christchurch. CERA’s initial focus was on ensuring residential properties were rebuilt and repaired, and in recent years it’s put greater emphasis on key CBD projects to renew the South Island’s major centre. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, which was tasked with overseeing the rebuild of the country’s second biggest city, is upbeat about the prospects for anchor projects in Christchurch’s central business district, but won’t provide business cases for the developments until commercial contracts have been signed off. “One of the questions on people’s minds after the central city was demolished and people moved out to the suburbs was ‘would they move back?’,” Ombler said. “What we’re seeing here is that for many people they’ve got confidence and are investing in the central city.” Last year, a survey of senior leaders in Christchurch was critical of the way major projects were being procured and managed, something Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee took on the chin, saying he would work to ensure stakeholders had confidence in the rebuild. When asked whether CERA would release business cases for anchor projects so the public could have input, Ombler said the agency wouldn’t publish those reports until commercial terms had been agreed with partners. “I would be surprised if we were able to release the business case with full commercial details prior to any commercial agreements being finalised,” he said. Deputy chief executive of implementation Warwick Isaacs told policymakers all of the projects and horizontal infrastructure, such as water and roading, were assessed to ensure the taxpayer received value for money, but that quality was also a concern. Under questioning from Green Party MP Eugenie […]

The volume of total manufacturing rose a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, its second quarter of expansion, and up 1.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. That activity was underpinned by a 7.2 percent increase in petroleum and coal product manufacturing, a 1.9 percent gain in metal product manufacturing and a 0.9 percent lift in meat and dairy production. While activity was on the up, the value of total manufacturing sales declined 0.7 percent in the quarter to $23.13 billion in the quarter, its third decline, and was down 3.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. The plunge in global dairy prices last year weighed on the value of sales, with meat and dairy product sales falling 2.7 percent in the quarter to $7.43 billion. That’s the fourth quarterly decline in value across the meat and dairy sector, and the value of sales were down 14 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, outpacing the 1.4 percent annual decline in volumes. The Bank of New Zealand BusinessNZ performance of manufacturing index for February is due this week after the January survey showed expanding activity slowed to a two year low with new orders flat and a build up in inventories. Today’s data showed the volume of finished stocks climbed 8.6 percent in the December quarter, and was down 6.4 percent from the same period a year earlier. The value of raw materials fell 6 percent to $3.66 billion in the quarter, while the value of finished goods rose 4.9 percent to $10.36 billion. In unadjusted terms, the volume of manufacturing increased 1.5 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31 from the same quarter a year earlier, while the vale of sales fell 3.2 […]

The latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) Survey of Business Conditions completed during February 2015, shows total sales in January 2015 increased 10.29% (year on year export sales increased by 11.61% with domestic sales increasing 6.52%) on January 2014. The NZMEA survey sample this month covered NZ$502m in annualised sales, with an export content of 75%. Net confidence fell to 21, down from 38 in December. The current performance index (a combination of profitability and cash flow) is at 100.3, down from 101.3 last month, the change index (capacity utilisation, staff levels, orders and inventories) was at 100, down from 103 in the last survey, and the forecast index (investment, sales, profitability and staff) is at 106.5, down on the last result of 108.33.  Anything over 100 indicates expansion. Constraints reported were 50% markets, 36% production capacity, and 14% skilled staff. Net 7% of firms reported a modest rise in productivity for January. Staff numbers for January increased 0.62%. Tradespersons, supervisors, managers, and operators/labourers all reported a moderate shortage, while professional/scientists showed a minor shortage. “Domestic sales continued their positive trend, bouncing back from falls in the middle of 2014.  Year on year export sales turned positive this month, after their falling trend towards the end of 2014.  The market constraint reduced, while the production capacity constraint increased,” says NZMEA Chief Executive John Walley. “Confidence and all three index measures fell back this month, even though both export and domestic sales saw improvements.  This is in contrast to recent months, where confidence and index measures have often been improving in the face of falling or flat sales.” “For most exporters the rebound of the U.S. economy is providing a bright spot and growth opportunities; in contrast the recent rise of the NZ$ against the AU$ has added pressure for […]

The 10th anniversary meeting of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum takes place in Auckland tomorrow. The Leadership Forum is an annual meeting of business, political and community leaders from Australia and New Zealand sharing a goal of closer trans-Tasman relations. Past work of the Forum has included helping accelerate the Single Economic Market (SEM), border control reforms, supporting joint trade agreements with other nations, and work on expanding investment in both countries. This year’s meeting will continue the focus on trade, tourism and progress towards SEM along with productivity, technology, infrastructure and investment issues. New Zealand Co-Chair Adrian Littlewood (Chief Executive Auckland Airport) said the success of CER and a deepening SEM means Australia and New Zealand have a strong platform from which to grow trade with each other and with the rest of the world. “Our goal at this Forum is to develop some new ideas for leadership between the two countries and together as we face the world,” said Mr Littlewood. McKinsey & Company will be assisting the Forum’s thinking on global connectedness by presenting a report on the flows of goods, services, capital and people our two countries have with the rest of the world. Australian Co-Chair Hon Warwick Smith AM (Senior Managing Director ANZ Bank and Chairman Australia China Council) said business placed a high priority on securing investment for future business growth. “The Trans-Tasman relationship as a whole would particularly benefit from a better understanding in both countries of the importance of foreign direct investment for generating growth,” Mr Smith said. He said the Forum would advocate for a better trans-Tasman investment environment. The Forum’s Secretariat is supported by BusinessNZ, with funding from business and the New Zealand Government. BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly said trans-Tasman businesses shared many common issues, including the need […]