Best of Business

Amid the ongoing fuel crisis, Jetstar is celebrating a major milestone. The airline is celebrating 17 years of operating in New Zealand, and they see the nation as a solid growth market. Jetstar CEO Stephanie Tully says it's a big milestone, and the company's marked the occasion with a big sale. "It's important for us, and we get excited when we have big sales - and we always have a big birthday s...

Apple's announced digital assistant, Siri, is getting an upgrade - expected later this year - to become Siri AI.   The company is promising a better artificial intelligence experience for users.  With the help of Google, Siri will remember past conversations, have a more conversational tone, and help across apps.  BusinessDesk's Peter Griffin says Apple isn't trying to compete with...

Two new Woolworths stores have opened in the South Island, but you can't get the weekly shop done there.  The educational facilities in Dunedin and Invercargill are giving young people with disabilities training for jobs in a supermarket environment, creating 'launchpads' for future employment. Front-Line Training chief operations officer Nadia Steedman says this will allow people to work in...

New research paints a gloomier picture for business leaders.   The latest 2degrees Shaping Business Report suggests optimism about post-pandemic recovery has fallen away.   It says leaders are now shifting from recovery mode to simply playing the hand they've got.  Chief Business Officer Andrew Fairgray told Heather du Plessis-Allan people were looking for a return to normalcy in th...

The US sharemarket took a hit last Friday, largely due to weakness in the information technology sector. The semiconductor sector was hit hard, and experts are unpacking the economic implications. Harbour Asset Management's Shane Solly explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand has indicated its long-running engine problems may have come to an end. Air New Zealand’s chief has claimed the airline reached a breakthrough in Brazil this weekend after years of crippling engine issues. Aviation industry expert Grant Bradley explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Finance Minister is promising more detail is coming regarding a billion dollar pre-Budget allocation. The funding's been labelled 'secret spending' by Labour. Nicola Willis says this reflects the Government's provision for a potential capital to operating forecast change in transport spend - that can be subject to future decisions. "That is literally what it is, and we will be taking policy de...

A new report has found New Zealand renters are better off than a year ago. The Regional Rental Affordability Index found affordability improved in most of the country over the past 12 months, as rents ease and incomes rise. Property Investors Federation Advocacy Manager Matt Ball says it's not the same story in every region, but renting is definitely more affordable. "If you look at Auckland - ren...

Crimson founder Jamie Beaton is on a mission to find and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. In a joint venture with Icehouse, five high school students will be offered a fully funded scholarship to Crimson Global Academy and provided a yearlong immersive experience to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions. Beaton says entrepreneurship is one of the most exciting careers out there, beca...

This Sunday marks a historic milestone for McDonald's New Zealand, with the franchise turning 50. What began as a single restaurant in Porirua in 1976 has grown into a network of 177 restaurants, with thousands of employees and 53 local franchises. McDonald’s managing director Kylie Freeland says McDonald's was initially focused on expanding out to bigger countries, but a convincing business case...

Higher mortgage rates have given the Reserve Bank a 'bit of breathing space', its chief economist says. Paul Conway, one of the Reserve Bank committee members who voted to keep the OCR on hold last week, said the market is doing some of the work for the central bank. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

The SpaceX IPO launch is set for later this month, and experts are speculating about what it could mean for the market. It reportedly plans to fix its IPO price at $135 per share to raise a record-setting $75 billion. Jeremy Hutton from Milford Asset Management explained the risks ahead of the launch.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Education Minister wants higher pay rates for tradies who work as unqualified teachers - but she has to persuade the unions first. The PPTA says schools are in need of more people to teach the trades, and outside educators should be fully qualified if they're to be paid the same as registered teachers. Te Pūkenga CEO Gus Gilmore says it's important to attract the best people to educate young K...

The hospitality squeeze continues, with a flurry of closures. Credit reporting agency Centrix says liquidations are up 49 percent year-on-year. Cafes, restaurants and takeaways made up the most of the 414 liquidations recorded in the past 12 months. Hospitality NZ CEO Kristy Phillips says the latest impacts are the cost of living and the fuel crisis. But she says businesses have taken many hits in...

Anthropic confirmed it filed confidential plans for an initial public offering, setting it up for what's expected to be one of the most anticipated market debuts in years. Anthropic is one of three highly anticipated AI initial public offerings expected for this year, along with OpenAI and SpaceX - giving early investors a chance for huge paydays. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says An...

The New Zealand racing industry has plenty of reasons to celebrate the recent King’s Birthday Honours, with three of its own recognised. David Ellis, Doug Alderslade and Dr Luk Chin were among the experts who received honours yesterday. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a view a merger by Heartland and TSB won't hand the big four banks a massive blow.  Heartland Bank has struck a deal to buy TSB for $620 million, pending consultation and regulator approval.  Massey University banking professor Claire Matthews says the combined bank will still be smaller than the big four, and Kiwibank.  She says a lot of work's still needed to increase comp...

Patients could soon reap the benefits if digital-first Tend Healthcare acquires Green Cross Health's medical division, The Doctors. In July, it'll ask shareholders to approve the conditional sale and purchase agreement for a $270-million-dollar sale. Tend Chief Executive, Cecilia Robinson, says it's all about improving access to care - as they have in their current clinics. "We've significantly im...

Airlines are taking another hit from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.  Oil prices jumped 7% after an Iranian news agency announced Tehran has suspended the negotiations with the US.   Contributing to the dwindling stocks of jet fuel is a new ban on exports by Russia, set to last until the end of November.  Business Correspondent Vicky Pryce told Francesca Rudkin airlines are...

Oil prices fell significantly throughout last week as discussions regarding an Iran deal continued to take place. Prices are down around 8 percent for the week with Brent crude around $91 a barrel. Westpac Chief Economist Kelly Eckhold says rumours regarding an imminent Hormuz opening agreement caused prices to drop on Friday, but things aren't fully stable. "Mediators had sent a proposal to Trump...

It's been a breakthrough year for New Zealand’s video game industry. The sector hit its $1 billion annual revenue target two years early, and it's on track to double that figure by the end of the decade. NZ Game Developers Association executive director Joy Keene says there are quite a few factors behind this. "We're a very creative country, obviously, we have some number 8 wire kind of thinking....

Global transport company Mainfreight's full-year net profit is down 8.5 percent on the year earlier, despite an improved performance in the second half of the year end in March. Despite this, the company's hopeful that things can turn around, despite the conflict in the Middle East. Mainfreight CEO Don Braid explained further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A tax expert says it's good to draw a line under recent changes to charity rules. This year's Budget tweaks the Research and Development Tax Incentive, simplifies the fringe benefit tax, and expands the Foreign Investment Fund rules to all taxpayers.  It also caps the tax credits that can be received on not-for-profit donations.  Deloitte tax partner Robyn Walker says it's still very gen...

Well, you would have done well to heed Nicola Willis’s warnings ahead of this Budget that there would be no spend-up, because there is no spend-up. There is no money for - well, there is money for the important stuff. You’ve got the schools and the classrooms, and the hospitals, and the Waikato Expressway, and Winston Peters’ pet projects. But everywhere else, there is just no new money. It is tig...

Very few frills or surprises are expected to be in today’s Budget.   Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges predicts a “sensible, prudent, boring, Presbyterian” Budget, with only a few goodies coming from reprioritised spending.  He told Ryan Bridge he was more interested in the "nuggets" that pointed to the Government's future policy direction.  He wanted Finance Minister Nico...