Business and Commerce News

July 2004

New Dwellings Trend Declining Despite 30-Year High
Consents were issued for 3,447 new dwelling units in June 2004, according to Statistics New Zealand. This is the highest total for any month since May 1974. However, the trend series for the number of new dwelling units has been declining since January 2004, following a period of steady increases which began in April 2003. Consents [...]

Contact Energy Announces Third Quarter Result
High inflows to hydro catchments were the primary factor in Contact Energy reporting a slight fall in adjusted earnings for the three months to 30 June 2004. After excluding one-off factors, Contact's tax-paid adjusted earnings for the three months to June 2004 were $41.7 million, compared with $42.2 million in the same period the previous year. "The [...]

Television Advertising Growth Strong At 8.3%
Television advertising revenue increased by 8.3 per cent ($11.7 million) to $153.0 million for the three months to 30 June 2004 compared to $141.3 million for the same period in 2003. In the first six months of 2004 the revenue increase was 9.4% ($24.0 million) with a total of $279.5 million compared to $255.5 million [...]

Ballance Profit Tops $49 Million
Productivity and efficiency gains assisted fertiliser cooperative Ballance Agri-Nutrients to post a Group operating surplus of $49.1 million on revenue of $416.6 million for the financial year ending May 31, 2004. On the strength of this strong result Ballance has announced a combined end of year cash payout to its 17,800 farmer shareholders will be $18.4 [...]

64% Of Vehicle Dealers Not Complying With Regulations
The Commerce Commission is reminding motor vehicle traders of their obligations under the Consumer Information Standards Regulations for used motor vehicles following recent inspections in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch that revealed 64 percent of dealers were non-compliant. Director of Fair Trading Deborah Battell said that in the Commission's view, dealers have now had sufficient time to [...]

Panel Approves Exemptions For Contact Takeover
The Takeovers Panel has approved several exemptions for Origin Energy New Zealand Limited. The exemptions relate to Origin's intended acquisition of the controlling interest in Contact Energy Limited currently held by subsidiaries of Edison Mission Energy. The exemptions have been approved subject to a number of conditions including a requirement that Origin make a related takeover offer [...]

Drop In Population Growth
The resident population of New Zealand was estimated to be 4,061,300 at 30 June 2004, according to the latest population estimates released by Statistics New Zealand. In the year to June 2004, the population growth was estimated to be 52,200 (1.3 percent). This was lower than the growth of 70,000 (1.8 percent) for the year [...]

Tasman Pacific Airlines Of NZ Ltd. In Liquidation
Jeff Meltzer and Arron Heath of Meltzer Mason Heath, Liquidators of Tasman Pacific Airlines of NZ Limited (formerly trading as Qantas New Zealand), today announced that they estimate a dividend to unsecured creditors of approximately 15 cents in the dollar subject to the outcome of the pooling application referred to below. This result reflects a [...]

Quarterly Imports Rise 6.2 Percent
The seasonally adjusted value of merchandise imports rose 6.2 percent in the June 2004 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. This follows a rise of 7.2 percent in the March 2004 quarter. Most of the main broad economic categories rose during the latest quarter, with the exception of industrial transport equipment and passenger motor cars. The [...]

Comvita Announces Solid Half-Year Net Profit
Comvita Limited has announced a solid half-year net profit after tax of $673,900 for the six months to June 30, an increase of 11.5 per cent over the corresponding period last year, while total revenue for the half year was $13,9 million against $10.9 million for the corresponding period last year. Earnings per share for the [...]

Telecom Unbundled Bitstream Service Finalised
Telecom will provide funding to smaller Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to help them to promote their own branded broadband services. As part of the new Unbundled BitStream Service (UBS) to be launched in September, Telecom will contribute matched marketing funds of up to $15,000 to ISPs that meet certain criteria to assist with broadband promotions. The new [...]

Container Volumes Show 2% Growth For Full Year
Ports of Auckland's container volumes* grew 2% to 662,170 for the financial year to end-June 2004, compared with the year end-June 2003 (649,639). Comment DuDuring the year, full import container volumes* rose 3% to 244,397 and full export container volumes were down 1% to 174,467, compared with the 12 months to end-June 2003. Auckland is a well-balanced [...]

Commission Declines Bondor's Application To Acquire Long International
The Commerce Commission has declined a clearance application from Bondor New Zealand Limited to acquire the business assets of the insulated panel business of Long International Limited. Bondor is involved in the manufacture of polystyrene blocks and sheets, polystyrene based architectural claddings and polystyrene insulated panels for use in temperature controlled structures. Long International also manufactures polystyrene [...]

Kellogg's Coco Pops And Kellogg's Rice Bubbles Voluntary Recall
Kellogg (Aust) Pty Ltd is voluntarily recalling a limited number of Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Kellogg’s Rice Bubbles Breakfast Cereal packs as a precautionary measure. This follows the discovery of small pieces of thin wire in a few packs. Kellogg’s first and overriding concern is always the safety of our consumers and quality of our products [...]

Commission clears Colgate-Palmolive to acquire various Campbell Brothers brands
The Commerce Commission has cleared Colgate-Palmolive to acquire various brands and associated items that comprise the laundry additive, laundry detergent, and dishwashing detergent businesses of Campbell Brothers Limited and Campbell Brothers’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Bushland Products Pty Limited. The brands include the ‘Fluffy brand’ for fabric softener, wool wash and tumble-dryer pads; the ‘Hurricane’ brand for laundry [...]

Public Alerted To Misleading Phone Card Deals
The Commerce Commission is warning members of the public to be wary of a number of phone card deals currently on the market. Director of Fair Trading Deborah Battell said the Commission was concerned about misleading advertising by a number of small phone card operators. "The Commission is aware that there may be up to 50 different [...]

Carter Holt Harvey Ends Half Year In Strong Financial Position
Carter Holt Harvey was pleased to advise shareholders today that net earnings for the six months ended 30 June 2004 were $496 million, compared to $92 million for the same period last year. This result includes a gain of $440 million from the sale of the company's Tissue business, recorded as a restructuring and non-recurring [...]

Visitor Arrivals Up 20 Percent
There were 134,800 short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in June 2004, up 22,800 or 20 percent on June 2003, according to Statistics New Zealand. In June 2004, there were more visitors from Australia (up 11,800 or 27 percent), Japan (up 3,600 or 82 percent) and China (up 3,100 or 184 percent) than in June [...]

Extra Two Cents Lifts Fonterra Payout To $4.25
Fonterra’s shareholders are to get a two cent top-up to payout, with the co-operative announcing today a final payout for the 2003/04 season of $4.25 per kilogram of milk solids, compared to last month’s $4.23 forecast. Fonterra’s $4.25 payout is 17% up on last season’s payout of $3.63. It amounts to a distribution of $5.1 billion [...]

No Change For Real Estate Market
Rising interest rates come as no surprise to the real estate sector, says Simes Director Peter Cook. He says the latest survey showing rates have hit 8% is not expected to have any measurable effect on the market. The latest REINZ Mortgage Interest Rates Survey, released today, shows that as a result of hikes in the official [...]

Volumes Grow Across Key Trade Areas
Three of Lyttelton Port Company's key trade drivers - containers, coal and bulk fuel - all experienced growth in the financial year ended 30 June 2004. "We are very pleased with the volume growth across our key trades and in particular the 8% increase in total containers through the port and 20% increase in containers through [...]

Bank of New Zealand Introduces Hedging Solutions For Energy, Base Metals, Agricultural Commodities
Businesses now have a way of combating commodity price fluctuations thanks to Bank of New Zealand's newly-launched Commodities Price Risk Management (Hedging) Solutions. The bank's new products are hedging tools designed to reduce to an acceptable level the risks associated with fluctuations in the price of energy, base metals, and agricultural commodities. Specifically, these are products [...]

NZ Continues To Reap Dividends From Successful Reforms of 1980s And 1990s
The reforms of the 1980s and 1990s continue to pay dividends for New Zealand , in terms of both economic growth and economic freedom, according to New Zealand Business Roundtable Policy Advisor Norman LaRocque . Mr LaRocque was commenting on the findings of the Economic Freedom of the World 2004 Annual Report, which was released today [...]

Manufacturing Expansion Lifts For June
New Zealand manufacturing recorded increased expansion in June, according to the latest ANZ-Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). New Zealand’s PMI value increased from 54.1 in May to 62.2 in June (a PMI reading above 50 points indicates expansion and below 50 indicates decline). This remains 9.0 points higher than June 2003, when a lift [...]

Food Prices Fall In June
Food prices fell 0.1 percent in June 2004, according to latest figures from Statistics New Zealand. Lower prices for grocery food, soft drinks and confectionery; and fruit and vegetables were partly offset by higher prices for restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food; and meat, fish and poultry. Grocery food, soft drinks and confectionery prices fell 0.4 percent [...]

Petrol And Construction Prices Drive CPI Up 0.8 %
The Consumers Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.8 percent in the June 2004 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. The housing group made the most significant upward contribution to the CPI, with prices rising 1.4 percent. The increase in the June 2004 quarter also reflects higher prices for petrol and electricity.The rise in the housing [...]

Businesses Warned Not To Destroy Information And Documents
Search warrants are a valuable tool that the Commerce Commission will not hesitate to use when investigating allegations into anti-competitive behaviour. General Manager Geoff Thorn said the Commission is committed to the use of search warrants particularly following the admission by Tranz Rail that one of its employees destroyed emails and possibly documents relating to [...]

Muscle Marketing USA Fined $70,000 For False Claims
Muscle Marketing USA Limited has been fined $70,000 in the Auckland District Court today for breaching the Fair Trading Act in relation to its sports performance enhancing product ATP Advantage Creatine Serum. In sentencing, Judge Everitt said that Muscle Marketing’s claims about its product were so far from actual reality that it was a very bad [...]

Feltex Purchases Its Foxton Manufacturing Site
Feltex Carpets Limited has today announced that it has purchased the Foxton property at which its New Zealand tufted carpet operations are based. Settlement of the purchase price will take place today. The purchase of the property provides the Company with the full control over one of its key manufacturing sites and the flexibility for [...]

Six Work Stoppages Ended in March
Six work stoppages ended in the March 2004 quarter, according to the latest figures from Statistics New Zealand. All six were complete strikes, involving a total of 624 employees and resulting in an estimated loss of $195,000 in wages and salaries. Thirty-three work stoppages ended in the March 2004 year, compared with 40 in the March [...]

Strong Demand For Canwest Mediaworks Shares
Auckland - CanWest MediaWorks (NZ) Limited announced today that the final price and institutional allocations of ordinary shares in CanWest MediaWorks have been confirmed. The final price, set following an institutional bookbuild process, is $1.53. At the final price of $1.53, the offer will raise aggregate proceeds of approximately $104.0 million. A total of 68 [...]

Upward Trend In Guest Nights Continues
The underlying trend in total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation has been increasing since June 1998, according to Statistics New Zealand. In May 2004, the trend level in total guest nights was 5 percent higher than in May 2003.Actual total guest nights were 1.8 million in May 2004, a 4 percent increase compared with [...]

Small Change For Retail Sales In May
Seasonally adjusted total retail sales increased 0.1 percent in May 2004 compared with April 2004, according to Statistics New Zealand. This follows a decrease of 0.8 percent in April 2004 and an increase of 2.4 percent in March 2004. Excluding the motor vehicle-related industries, seasonally adjusted sales were 0.2 percent higher in May 2004 than [...]

Mike Henry Travel Insurance Partners With IAG
Mike Henry Travel Insurance (MHTI) is pleased to announce that it has sold half of its shares to IAG New Zealand Limited (IAG NZ). IAG NZ is owned by Insurance Australia Group and underwrites and distributes general insurance products through both the State and NZI insurance brands in New Zealand. It carries a Standard & Poor’s [...]

High May Exports Value Confirmed
The provisional value of merchandise exports for May 2004 is $3,365 million, which is 22.6 percent higher than for May 2003, according to Statistics New Zealand. This is the highest monthly exports value, in nominal terms, ever recorded; it is 4.2 percent higher than the second highest value, which was recorded in May 2001. The provisional [...]

Orion Network Profitability Offset By Write-Downs
Christchurch based electricity network company Orion New Zealand Limited achieved a $35m surplus on its core electricity network in the financial year to 31 March 2004, $2m ahead of its statement of corporate intent forecast. However write-downs on the shareholdings of some of the company's investments resulted in an overall net surplus of $0.2m, $19.6m below [...]

New Vehicle Sales Surge In June
The new vehicle market surged ahead again in June, reaching levels not seen in the midwinter month for twenty years. Total new vehicle sales were 9738, exactly 2000 units ahead of May and representing a massive 25.8% increase on the previous month. Passenger car sales reached 7159, 22% ahead of May. The first half-year totaled 32,637, [...]

Trans-Tasman Forestry Venture Up And Running
Forest Research and Australia's CSIRO announced today that ensis, their new joint venture in forest industry research and development, has commenced trading. Following two years of committed effort by the two leading forestry R&D agencies in both countries, ensis has been established to strengthen competitiveness and research capacity of the Australasian forest, wood and paper industries. Dr [...]

Windfarm Transmission Agreement Signed
Transpower and Meridian Energy sign windfarm transmission agreement State-owned power companies Meridian Energy and Transpower have reached agreement for the connection of Meridian's new windfarm at Te Apiti in the Manawatu, to the national grid. The two companies' chief executives signed the agreement at a small ceremony in Wellington today. It is the first ever agreement in New [...]

Shortage Of Builders Prompts Overseas Search
A chronic shortage of skilled builders has prompted Tradestaff, a Christchurch recruitment company to search overseas for recruits. Tradestaff's Managing Director Kevin Eder says the company has put together a package that includes accommodation and an airfare refund for carpenters who come to New Zealand for more than three months. Staff recruited from offshore would work four [...]

Statistics Reflect Males In High-risk Occupations
Work-related Injury Statistics Reflect Male Predominance in High-risk OccupationsAbout three-quarters of all claims for work-related injuries in 2003 were made by males, according to provisional data released today by Statistics New Zealand. This reflects the predominance of males in occupations with the greatest risk of injury. The occupation group with the highest number of claims for [...]

Telecom Completes Purchase
Telecom today completed the purchase of IT-solutions provider Gen-i from Cullen Investments for $62.3 million. Telecom Chief Information Officer Mark Ratcliffe said Telecom had completed its due diligence assessment on Gen-i and is pleased with the results. "Gen-i is a smart acquisition for Telecom because of its complementary skills, expertise and culture," Mr Ratcliffe said. "Gen-i has been [...]

Commission Grants Clearance To VisyPET
The Commerce Commission has cleared VisyPET (NZ) Limited (trading as VisyPak) to acquire some or all of the two-stage PET manufacturing assets and related business contracts of Visy Industrial Plastics (NZ) Limited (VIP). The application related to the on-sale by VIP to Visypak of two-stage PET manufacturing assets considered in a recent Commission decision on the [...]

Toll NZ And Crown Sign Agreements
After months of complex negotiations, Toll and the Crown last night reached agreement covering the terms for the sale of the National Rail network back to public ownership. Toll will continue to manage the network for an interim transition period, expected to be two months while the Crown will continue to appropriately resource a new entity. In [...]