Latest news with #Summerset
National Business Review
15-05-2025
- Business
- National Business Review
Quick Takes of the Week to May 16
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.
RNZ News
04-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
How Rotorua is bucking the national trend for new home builds
Rotorua has seen the third year in a row for record new homes constructed. Photo: LDR /Andrew Warner Rotorua has hit its highest number of new build homes in 14 years, bucking the national trend. It comes as a new assessment finds the city has more than enough future housing capacity, a turnaround from shortage projections. More than 500 homes were built in the city last year, about half of them social housing or affordable rentals. Rotorua Lakes Council destination development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston told an April meeting many of the 522 houses were built in the central and western areas. Net new homes reached 483 after accounting for homes removed to make way for developments. It was the third year in a row that new home numbers peaked since 2011, and another 600 homes were in the pipeline for the next couple of years. Data provided to Local Democracy Reporting showed 304 of the new houses were built in Rotorua's western and central areas: The council had a goal of building 3000 new homes in those areas by 2032. After the meeting, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said improving housing options for the city remained a top priority for the council as it would have "huge benefits for our community". "These housing developments are not just public homes, but all types of homes, including affordable rentals and retirement options for our older residents. "I know the economy has been uncertain but despite slower markets elsewhere, we've got a strong number of building consents coming through in Rotorua." Twenty new two and three-bedroom Kāinga Ora apartments are on Lake Rd. Photo: LDR / supplied Tapsell said the council would continue to work to unlock land and opportunities for new homes. In February, Local Democracy Reporting wrote that $259 million worth of new residential and commercial buildings were consented in Rotorua in the year to September - more than double the $112.2m of consents issued in 2023. According to Stats NZ, new dwelling consents nationwide in 2024 were down 9.8 percent on 2023. Gaston wrote in the meeting's agenda the city avoided the national decline in building numbers because of multi-year investment by Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, support for Māori affordable rental development, and significant staged developments such as Freedom Village. The recent fast-track consenting of a new Summerset lifestyle village in Fairy Springs provided additional future certainty of 260 housing units within the short/medium-term, Gaston wrote. Other projects included the first 16 homes in the Ōwhata Kōhanga Rākau iwi-led housing development on the east side of Rotorua, which opened in November and will eventually have 93 homes including 38 affordable rentals and kaumātua housing. A council spokesperson said it knew of 262 among last year's 522 new builds that were social housing or affordable rentals. Among these were 17 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom homes on Lake Rd. This Kāinga Ora development opened in May. A Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga - Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MHUD) spokesman said 101 homes were built as part of MHUD housing programmes, including 80 iwi-led Māori affordable rentals. Kāinga Ora added 104 new social housing places to its stock in Rotorua. The spokesman said Rotorua's housing shortage resulted from a rapid increase in the resident population from 2013 and too few houses being built to meet the demand. The rental market tightened and rents rose relative to incomes, leading to more households on the Housing Register and large numbers in temporary or emergency accommodation. This peaked at 699 households in December 2021. The ministry partnered with others including iwi and the council to make a plan for Rotorua including short-term and more permanent housing solutions. The number of households in temporary and emergency housing had dropped to 96 as of March. "This is a result of the government's significant investment in Rotorua." The city remained a priority for the Ministry with a "strong pipeline" of additional housing places to be delivered - 170 state homes by mid-2025 and another 72 by July 2026. The government was criticised for using Rotorua's motels as a "dumping ground" for the country's homeless during peak pandemic years, but consistently denied actively bringing in out-of-towners. The last Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessment in 2021 projected the city was heading for a 10,000-home shortage in the long-term, by 2050. An updated assessment from 2024 presented to a council meeting on Wednesday found an overall surplus of 300 - 1600 dwellings short-term, 2200 - 5200 medium-term, and 10,100 - 24,700 long-term. This turnaround was broadly credited to work identifying and preparing new greenfield (undeveloped) land for housing, and enabling intensification. "This puts the district in a good position to respond to what the community needs as it grows and to make adjustments if needed," Gaston said in a statement. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
04-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Rotorua built 522 new houses last year, defying national trend
Rotorua Lakes Council destination development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston told an April meeting many of the 522 houses were built in the central and western areas. Net new homes reached 483 after accounting for homes removed to make way for developments. It was the third year in a row that new home numbers peaked since 2011, and another 600 homes were in the pipeline for the next couple of years. Data provided to Local Democracy Reporting showed 304 of the new houses were built in Rotorua's western and central areas: 253 in the western area in 2024, up from 199 in 2023, and 51 in the central area in 2024 compared to 38 in 2023. The council had a goal of building 3000 new homes in those areas by 2032. After the meeting, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said improving housing options for the city remained a top priority for the council as it would have 'huge benefits for our community'. 'These housing developments are not just public homes, but all types of homes, including affordable rentals and retirement options for our older residents. 'I know the economy has been uncertain but despite slower markets elsewhere, we've got a strong number of building consents coming through in Rotorua.' Tapsell said the council would continue to work to unlock land and opportunities for new homes. In February, Local Democracy Reporting wrote that $259 million worth of new residential and commercial buildings were consented in Rotorua in the year to September - more than double the $112.2m of consents issued in 2023. According to Stats NZ, new dwelling consents nationwide in 2024 were down 9.8% on 2023. Gaston wrote in the meeting's agenda the city avoided the national decline in building numbers because of multi-year investment by Kāinga Ora and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, support for Māori affordable rental development, and significant staged developments such as Freedom Village. The recent fast-track consenting of a new Summerset lifestyle village in Fairy Springs provided additional future certainty of 260 housing units within the short/medium-term, Gaston wrote. Other projects included the first 16 homes in the Ōwhata Kōhanga Rākau iwi-led housing development on the east side of Rotorua, which opened in November and will eventually have 93 homes including 38 affordable rentals and kaumātua housing. A council spokesperson said it knew of 262 among last year's 522 new builds that were social housing or affordable rentals. Among these were 17 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom homes on Lake Rd. This Kāinga Ora development opened in May. A Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesman said 101 homes were built as part of MHUD housing programmes, including 80 iwi-led Māori affordable rentals. Kāinga Ora added 104 new social housing places to its stock in Rotorua. The spokesman said Rotorua's housing shortage resulted from a rapid increase in the resident population from 2013 and too few houses being built to meet the demand. The rental market tightened and rents rose relative to incomes, leading to more households on the Housing Register and large numbers in temporary or emergency accommodation. This peaked at 699 households in December 2021. The ministry partnered with others including iwi and the council to make a plan for Rotorua including short-term and more permanent housing solutions. The number of households in temporary and emergency housing had dropped to 96 as of March. 'This is a result of the Government's significant investment in Rotorua.' The city remained a priority for the Ministry with a 'strong pipeline' of additional housing places to be delivered - 170 state homes by mid-2025 and another 72 by July 2026. The Government was criticised for using Rotorua's motels as a 'dumping ground' for the country's homeless during peak pandemic years, but consistently denied actively bringing in out-of-towners. New housing assessment finds capacity in surplus The last Housing and Business Development Capacity Assessment in 2021 projected the city was heading for a 10,000-home shortage in the long-term, by 2050. An updated assessment from 2024 presented to a council meeting on Wednesday found an overall surplus of 300 – 1600 dwellings short-term, 2,200 – 5,200 medium-term, and 10,100 – 24,700 long-term. This turnaround was broadly credited to work identifying and preparing new greenfield (undeveloped) land for housing, and enabling intensification. 'This puts the district in a good position to respond to what the community needs as it grows and to make adjustments if needed,' Gaston said in a statement. - LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
