Quick Takes of the Week to May 16

National Business Review

15-05-2025

Monday May 12
Summerset launches $100m bond offer
Retirement village provider Summerset is launching a $100m bond offer for retail and institutional investors to roll over existing debt.
The bonds will mature in May 2031 and the interest rate will be the sum of the issue margin plus the base rate but, in any case, would be no less than 5.35%.
Both the issue margin and the interest rate would be completed via bookbuild process and the bonds would be quoted on the debt market on May 26.
Summerset has the ability to accept a further $50m in over-subscriptions.
Today's announcement comes after Summerset said last week it was considering a six-year, fixed-rate bond offer to repay a portion of existing drawn bank debt. The company would then use bank debt to fund the repayment of Summerset's $125m bonds that mature in September.
Summerset has four retail bonds totalling $575m on issue.
The joint leader managers for the offer are ANZ Bank, CBA Bank, Craigs Investment Partners, and Forsyth Barr.
Te Matatini outgrows Nelson; 2027 event scrapped for larger host
Te Matatini, New Zealand's premier kapa haka festival, will no longer be hosted by Te Tauihu (Nelson-Marlborough) in 2027, as organisers say the event has become too large for smaller regions. Despite significant preparation, the festival's rapid growth in scale and attendance raised serious concerns about Te Tauihu's capacity in terms of accommodation, transport, and logistics.
Te Matatini will now seek expressions of interest from larger regions better equipped to handle its expanding audience and infrastructure needs. Te Tauihu leaders expressed disappointment but acknowledged the logistical realities.
It's estimated the cultural festival injected $22 million into the Auckland economy in 2023, and more than $25m into New Plymouth for this year's event.
Tuesday May 13
Graham McKenzie to re-stand for MCK board
Millennium Copthorne Queenstown.
Graham McKenzie – a long-serving director of NZX-listed Millennium & Copthorne – will stand for re-election to its board. McKenzie, a former partner to law firm Bell Gully, was part of the independent directors' committee leading the response to the hotel group's recent takeover offer by major shareholder CDL Hotels Holdings.
He'd indicated he wouldn't be standing for re-election but, on the strength of a request by a minority shareholder, McKenzie's re-election has been included in the notice of meeting.
A former director of CDL, he has been a fixture of the MCK board since 2006. The company's annual meeting is scheduled to take place in Auckland on May 30.
Wednesday May 14
Vector mulls sale of fibre business
Electricity distributor Vector has signalled the possible sale of its fibre network business, with Australian investment bank Barrenjoey hired to help with a strategic review. In a brief statement to the NZX, Vector said the fibre business 'builds and manages data network solutions for businesses predominantly in Auckland, including major businesses, government entities and some leading channel partners'. There was no certainty a transaction would eventuate, it said. Vector has had a telecommunications operation since acquiring UnitedNetworks in 2002 and was a bidder for the Government's ultrafast broadband rollout in 2011 but lost out to the deal creating Telecom spin-off Chorus. The financial performance of Vector's fibre business is included in its accounts as part of 'other' revenue, which was $66.2 million in the year to June 2024, out of total revenue of $1.14 billion.
David Smol.
Government sets date for replacement of Crown Research Institutes
Three new Public Research Organisations (PROs) being created under a major reform of the science sector will become operational on July 1. Barry Harris will chair the Bioeconomy Science Institute, while David Smol will chair the New Zealand Institute for Earth Science. The Institute of Environmental Science and Research will retain its existing governance as it transitions to the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science. Former Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has been appointed CEO of ESR until the end of 2026. All three organisations will remain Crown Research Institutes until legislation enables their transition to PROs in mid-2026. No date has yet been set for starting the new Advanced Technology PRO, although last week's $71m allocation from existing funding for a new science platform hosted by the Robinson Research Institute was hailed as the first step towards it.
Foley Wines harvest up 35%
NZX-listed Wine and liquor business, Foley Wine, has reported a 35% lift in its grape harvest. The company behind brands such as Mt Difficulty, Roaring Meg, Clifford Bay reported more than 8,600 tonnes of grapes were harvested across vineyards in Marlborough, Martinborough, and Central Otago. That was up from 6,404 tonnes of grapes picked in 2024. In Marlborough, Foley Wines reported its largest harvest on record, totalling more than 6,800 tonnes. However, disruptive weather and frost negatively impacted yields in Otago. Foley Wines chief executive Mark Turnbull stepped down at the end of April after 13 years in the role. He was replaced by Mike Higgins on an interim basis.
Consumers reluctant to splurge in current economic environment
Consumer spending using electronic cards was flat in April, according to data from Statistics NZ today. Retail spending using credit, debit, and charge cards was unchanged last month, compared with March. Spending in 'core' retail industries increased just 0.2%. Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said some of the softness in spending was because of falls in petrol prices. Spending on groceries continued to rise, while spending on durables, such as household furnishings, along with the hospitality sector, had been flat in recent months. 'Today's soft result reinforces the picture of subdued domestic demand in the early part of the year,' Ranchhod said. 'We expect this picture will start to turn around over the coming months.' He said further interest rate cuts would help, but there were 'powerful headwinds', such as the cost of living and a soft labour market. 'Putting that all together, retail spending is likely to remain slow in the near term."
Auckland Airport immigration area.
Annual net migration gain continues to trail previous years
New Zealand's annual net migration continues to dwarf previous years, according to Statistics NZ data released today. Overall, there was an annual net migration gain of 26,400 in the year ended March, well down from a gain of 100,400 the previous year. International migration statistics spokesperson Sarah Drake said the fall was mainly driven by fewer migrant arrivals, although departures rose to a provisional annual record. On a monthly basis, there was a net gain of 2300 in March, compared with a net gain of 3500 in March last year. From a travel perspective, Stats NZ said New Zealand residents arrived back from more than three million short-term overseas trips of less than 12 months. Drake said the increase was mainly driven by more trips to Australia, as well as Indonesia, China, and Japan. Meanwhile, overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand were 3.32 million over the year, up 137,000 from the previous year.
Thursday May 15
TradeWindow revenue up 30%, gives FY26 forecast despite trade war
Trade Window Holdings is set to declare annual trading revenue of $8 million when it reports its FY25 results on May 29, and has given guidance for the following FY26 year of between $10m to $11m.
The NZX-listed trade software company noted the unaudited FY25 revenue figure would be a 30% rise on the $6.2m it reported in FY24. It had guided it would reach revenue of between $7.3m and $8.3m in FY25.
It said drivers of growth included its expansion in Australia, a 38% rise in annual recurring revenue – having reached earnings break-even in March this year – and its ability to cross-sell to existing customers.
The company said it expected ongoing global trade disruptions would "accelerate the adoption of digital solutions among shippers and freight forwarders, as these businesses seek to reduce backend costs and navigate increasingly complex compliance requirements".
Michael Fielding.
AUT spin-out Dot Ingredients raises funding for novel surfactant
Auckland-based Dot Ingredients has raised $350,000 in a round led by Motion Capital and including AUT Innovation Fund and Climate Venture Capital Fund. The AUT spin-out is based on research by AUT Associate Professor Dr Jack Chen and Dr Andres Tiban into Celluspheres technology – an innovative surfactant derived sustainably from wood pulp cellulose. Surfactants are a component of thousands of everyday products such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals with a global market valued at $85m annually, but more than 95% come from petrochemicals and palm oil. Dot Ingredients CEO Dr Michael Fielding said the investment allows the startup to protect its IP and strengthen industry partnerships ahead of a seed round later this year. Dot Ingredients has already had substantial backing from various sources. Motion Capital partner Ralph Chang said the economics were compelling, with the technology having the potential to scale across multiple industries. "We see a strong pathway to global impact."
SFO unveils foreign bribery reporting platform and ad campaign
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a national campaign targeting foreign bribery, to raise awareness and to encourage reporting. It includes a new online platform to support safe, anonymous reporting of suspected foreign bribery. The practice benefited corrupt people over honest businesses, the SFO said, noting it could take many forms, including a New Zealand company paying a foreign official for market access, a bribe from an overseas company to a public official here, or kickbacks to a private sector employee by a foreign company. The new platform will provide an encrypted channel for whistleblowers to report foreign bribery to SFO investigators. It uses the WhistleB platform provided by Navex, and was configured to "meet the highest possible settings for privacy and data security", the SFO said. All reports would be received by trained staff, and all interactions with case handlers remained encrypted, with data being stored in EU-based data centres.