Best of Business

The OECD has released its detailed biennial report on New Zealand's economy, ahead of the 2024 Budget. It lays out suggestions to improve productivity - highlighting competition. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny says the OECD thinks the Government could more aggressively break up monopolies and duopolies, like supermarkets. "It did recognise that, in a small country like New Z...

Things are tough in Wellington at the moment, with unemployment biting and public service cuts and staff working from home affecting central city businesses.  Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young and Trinity Group director and Hospitality NZ board member Jeremy Smith joined Nick Mills to talk business in Wellington.  LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not all agree with the cancellation of this year's New Zealand Fashion Week. Event organisers pulled the pin after financial pressures on the industry and made it a bi-annual event, starting from next year. Fashion PR agency Showroom 22 director Murray Bevan says he feels a midway point could've been reached. "When the chips are down, sometimes you double down on how hard you pushed to pull out of...

China's economy has been experiencing a downturn- weak growth, increased debt, and unwanted Government intervention. Despite this, China's stock market is the second-best performing market in the world so far this year. Fisher Funds' Sam Dickie explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nadine Tunley, Chief Executive of Horticulture New Zealand has resigned with her last day at HortNZ being Friday, 30 August. Tunley claimed this wasn't an easy decision - but she wants to focus on restoring work-life balance. The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand is enjoying a strong first quarter for the 2024 financial year. The restaurant operator reported $302.6 million in sales, a 7.9 percent increase from the same period last year. Milford Asset Management's Jeremy Hutton explains Restaurant Brands' financial recovery. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government plans to tax commercial property owners an extra $575 million a year in order to fund residential property and income tax cuts.  Finance Minister Nicola Willis is standing by her decision to remove ability for commercial and industrial owners to deduct depreciation as an expense going forward. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains the impact of these changes...

The Insurance Council is backing calls for Kiwis to lift their understanding of the risks of natural hazards. The Reserve Bank has released an excerpt on insurance in its upcoming Financial Stability Report. It says insurers, Government, home buyers and lenders all need to up their knowledge, so that future insurance affordability challenges, can be better managed. Insurance Council chief executiv...

Economists forecast unemployment will climb higher. New data shows it reached 4.3 percent in March, up from 4 percent in the December quarter. This comes at a time where higher interest rates are biting, as the Reserve Bank tries to rein in inflation. BNZ Head of Research Stephen Toplis says it could go as high as 5.5 percent. "We're really sort of experiencing, I think, the worst of things at the...

There's disappointment a Bill that would have regulated property managers more has been withdrawn. Housing Minister Chris Bishop has scrapped the Property Managers bill, saying the cost-benefit was marginal at best. He says it would have cost tenants and landlords. Real Estate Institute CEO Jen Baird says the figures involved were small. "Some of the numbers that I've seen have been 43 cents per p...

The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey shows confidence is declining. Business confidence dropped 8 points to +15 in April, expected own activity fell 9 points to +14, and past own activity dropped 13 points to -20. Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen explains what this means for the state of the economy.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australian financial markets appear to be bracing themselves for bad news. They've made a sudden shift from pricing in rate cuts to pricing in potential rate hikes, and economists fear increases to the OCR are coming. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says interest rates aren't likely to be dropping any time this year. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia's farmers have been struggling under ongoing droughts and low rainfall. The unfavourable weather conditions have led to farmers de-stocking or selling their stock at a significant loss. The Country's Rowena Duncum warns it'll take more than one rainstorm to address this. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air New Zealand's reliability has fallen - and it's trailing Jetstar in figures for last month as it grapples with engine problems. Only 77 percent of its domestic flights arrived within 15 minutes of scheduled times last month, down from 88 percent in January. Jetstar reported no domestic cancellations last month and almost 79 percent of flights were on time. Consumer NZ CEO Jon Duffy says it's g...

Two out of three job applicants have admitted to 'rage-applying' to new roles out of frustration with their employers, according to new research. A survey carried out by recruitment specialist Robert Walters indicates over half of the 2000 respondents were motivated to leave a toxic work environment. Robert Walters commercial director Stuart Nash says this is proof workplace culture matters to emp...

One of the UK's biggest retail groups has confirmed it plans to give job applicants their interview questions beforehand in an attempt to make the process fairer. John Lewis and Waitrose applicants across all skill levels will have access to these questions from the company's websites.  UK correspondent Gavin Grey unpacks the mass reactions to this idea. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener fo...

All eyes will be on Foreign Minister Winston Peters ahead of his hotly-anticipated foreign policy speech. Peters is expected to deliver a notable, forward-looking address in Parliament this Wednesday to the Institute of International Affairs. NZME business commentator Fran O'Sullivan suspects AUKUS will be a part of it. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Netflix releases their results for first quarter, they've promised some new changes to the service. The company's shares have dropped by nine percent, and speculation indicates the company could introduce ads to the service. Milford Asset Management's Deborah Lambie explains further. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been more light shined on the conflicting coverage of public sector job growth. Labour's Chris Hipkins has justified the growth of the public sector under the previous Government- does he have a point? NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explains both sides of the issue. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New reports show Tesla is experiencing a steep decline in profits and revenue - but the company's shares jumped 10 percent. The electric vehicle manufacturer posted a lower-than-expected $21.3 billion in revenue and 55 percent decline in profit from the first quarter of 2023. AJ Bell financial advisor Danni Hewson says investors believe CEO Elon Musk aims to focus more attention on Tesla, with mor...

New Zealand has achieved its first trading surplus since last May. Stats NZ trade data for March 2024 shows a monthly surplus of $588 million. Goods exports rose 3.8 percent in March on March 2023 - driven by fruit exports, which rose $170 million. ANZ economist Henry Russell says this is down to a post-pandemic bounce-back - and a weakening domestic economy. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listen...

A chunk of businesses aren’t sure they'll survive this year.   A Retail NZ survey has found retailers aren't confident heading into winter and a third think they might need to close this year.   About two thirds didn't meet their first quarter sales targets.   Chief Executive Carolyn Young told Mike Hosking that the reality of where the economy is at is taking hold.   LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio...

Chinese business travellers are first priority Auckland tourism for a first-of-its-kind alliance.   Since travel resumed last year, 6% of the 210,000 Chinese tourists were here for business.   Tātaki Auckland Unlimited and Auckland Airport will work with China Southern Airlines to market their daily non-stop flights from their main hub in Guangzhou to business travellers.   Auckland Unlimited Dest...

Wellington institution Cranfields is set to shut down, while the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport is going from strength to strength as the training facility for the Hurricanes and the Phoenix.  The leaders of those respective businesses joined Nick Mills to talk through how things are... and the pair had quite different outlooks.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Tomorrow's CPI data release is expected to reveal how close the Reserve Bank is to pushing down inflation. During last week's OCR update, the Bank was confident restrictions would get CPI back to the target one-to-three percent this year. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham predicts that inflation would have slowed down this quarter. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.