Utilities and airport software firm Gentrack’s first half net profit is down 29 percent, though growth in recurring revenue was expected to continue to grow.

The net profit for the six months to March was $5.1 million, with revenue down 1.7 percent to $110.1m, with two unexpected delays in sales of utilities services contributing to the drop.

However, Gentrack chief executive Gary Miles said recurring revenue rose nearly 17 percent to $85.3m, which was expected to continue to grow as AI changed the dynamics of software integration.

“This is definitely a transition that we’re trying to make in a very positive way that’ll affect the dynamics of our revenue,” he said.

“The other thing that’s happening with AI is when you have an out-of-the-box-stack and then you can start to run interoperability with tangential systems, the cost to deploy these systems also goes down.

“So that’s just part of the journey that the industry is on that we think will make a lot of sense for both the industry and for us.”

He said the drop in revenue and bottom line profit was unexpected, with an unforeseen delay in settling two deals.

“The long sales cycles, and two unexpected new client delays, have had an impact on our results this first half, but does not change our confidence in our medium-term growth targets of more than 15 percent compound annual growth.”

However, he said sales of airports software Veovo had been “exceptional” over the first half.

Miles said the company would be investing more in AI, which would drive software development and sales.

Acquisitions

Gentrack also announced it had an agreement to buy New Zealand-based software as a service firm Prospero Energy (trading as Factor) serving the energy retail sector, as part of its utilities division transition to an increasingly distributed energy system.

The latest deal followed last month’s agreement to buy Dubai-based airport technology and services provider Dubai Technology Partners as part of Gentrack’s expanding airport business.

Gentrack also reaffirmed its full year guidance issued on 5 May, but Miles it was too early to provide guidance for FY27.

While the board decided not to pay an Interim dividend, it still intended to undertake a share buyback up to $20m, depending on market conditions.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A third deputy chief executive at Corrections is under scrutiny with concerns raised about their leadership.

RNZ earlier revealed deputy chief executive Leigh Marsh was under investigation over allegations of bullying.

It was then revealed another deputy chief executive’s behaviour was being assessed in relation to the “tone and instructions” contained in a Microsoft Teams message. The same deputy chief had earlier apologised to another staffer about how they spoke to them.

RNZ has since learned other concerns were raised about another deputy chief executive at Corrections. The organisation has eight in total.

In response to questions from RNZ, Corrections acting chief executive Rachel Leota confirmed that in March, the former chief executive received concerns regarding leadership, governance and decision making within a business group.

“Corrections is conducting an internal review of the concerns raised in order to provide a substantive response. There is no current investigation underway.

“As one of the concerns related to decision making in a recruitment process, we have appointed an independent, external reviewer to make inquiries and provide Corrections with a report on their findings.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

Leota said she was “committed to ensuring Corrections continues to have a culture where we all act with integrity, staff feel comfortable speaking up, and that when staff do raise concerns, we look into these fairly and impartially for all parties involved”.

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell said he was aware of the matter.

“I have respect for the culture that Corrections have built where people are encouraged and feel comfortable raising issues and concerns.

“Staffing matters are for Corrections to manage, and I am confident they do this professionally and appropriately.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

One NZ is investigating a partial outage of its mobile networks across the country.

On its website, One NZ said the incident began shortly after 12.30pm on Monday.

Customers reported having issues with making or receiving calls.

A third party website, Downdetector, was reporting a sharp increase in the number of people with problems.

It was showing close to 200 outage reports in just over an hour.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

• NZ’s dervices sector is contracting at a slower pace
• Results across sub-indexes were mixed
• The employment outlook stayed negative
• BNZ says the economy is still struggling

New Zealand’s services sector remained in contraction in April, despite a modest improvement in activity, as high fuel costs and weak discretionary spending continued to weigh on businesses.

The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) rose 2.7 points to 48.9, up from 46.2 in March.

A reading below 50 indicates the sector – which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the economy – is contracting.

BusinessNZ chief executive Katherine Rich said more than two-thirds of comments from respondents were negative.

“Many of the comments focused on fuel prices,” she said.

“With the continuing conflict affecting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, it is difficult to foresee a quick return to expansion in the sector.”

The survey showed mixed results across sub-indexes, with new orders back in expansion at 51.2, but most other measures – including employment, sales, and supplier deliveries rising – which all rose but remained in contraction.

Smaller firms, particularly those with fewer than 10 employees, were finding conditions more difficult than larger businesses.

Stocks and inventories rose to 47.6, employment to 48.5, and sales to 48.9, while supplier deliveries slipped to 46.6.

BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis said the slight lift in the headline reading did little to change the broader picture.

Toplis cautioned that “at first glance the jump in the headline index … might be read as hope the New Zealand economy is proving to be remarkably resilient to the war in the Middle East.”

“On the other hand, it could be interpreted as further evidence the economy is struggling to get its head above water.”

Toplis said underlying details pointed firmly to the latter view, with employment “particularly concerning” as it remained below the breakeven 50 mark for the 29th consecutive month.

He also highlighted a sharp drop in discretionary spending, particularly across accommodation, cafés and restaurants, as households face ongoing cost pressures.

The data, alongside Friday’s weak manufacturing survey, is consistent with BNZ’s forecast that Q2 GDP will struggle to climb above zero, according to Toplis.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Fitch credit ratings agency is warning the introduction of local government rate caps could increase the risk of credit downgrades across the sector.

The government is planning to introduce legislation this year that will eventually limit council rate increases to 4 percent, from 2029.

Fitch reviews the credit ratings of 18 councils across New Zealand.

Paul Norris, senior director at Fitch Ratings, said they had generally held a positive view of the sector, given the flexibility councils have had to raise revenue.

He said it was early days and some councils may yet be able to get exemptions from rate caps.

However, he said overall he probably expected it to weigh on credit profiles across the sector.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Pay transparency has moved from a nice-to-have to a business priority, even though the topic leaves people feeling uncomfortable about sharing.

A recent change to legislation makes it unlawful for employers to require employees to keep their pay and benefits confidential, which gave workers an opportunity to discover any pay gaps or inconsistencies in salary packages without fear of retaliation.

David Lacire, a senior director at recruitment firm Robert Walters, said the change was about improving clarity, consistency and confidence in how pay decisions were made, rather than publishing the details of everyone’s salary.

He said it was important for employees to understand the principles behind compensation, such as how roles were valued, how progression worked, and how pay was reviewed.

However, he said it would take a cultural shift before people start feeling comfortable talking about their pay around the water cooler, though younger workers may be more inclined to share.

For businesses, he said organisations that take a proactive, structured approach to pay transparency were in a better position to build trust, attract talent and defend their decisions with data.

Lacire said there was so much data available on pay rates, businesses had no where to hide.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A builder says Christchurch is seeing an increasing amount of half-finished two-bedroom developments with less appetite in the market.

Carl Taylor, a builder and the head of Combined Building Supplies Co-operative, told Nine to Noon, it was a problem he was seeing for himself in Christchurch and was likely also the case in Auckland.

He said lots of builders had thought it was really easy to get into developments in recent years, but now many units, especially two-bedrooms, were sitting unsold.

In March alone, Taylor said 79 percent of all consents issued in Christchurch were for multi-unit developments.

“It’s pretty easy to notice when you’re driving round town you’ll see notices with five units available and eight in the whole development.

“They’re just not selling, so we’re starting to see effects in the market. It becomes a vicious cycle.”

Taylor said some two-bedroom townhouses were still selling, and there were lots of builders creating fantastic products, if they had a garage and a little bit of land they were still in demand, but many had no carparking or garage.

He said there was quite a lag from when consent was granted to when the building could actually be constructed.

In 2021 to 2022, Taylor said, a builder was able to go out and intensify and buy a piece of land and smack five or so units on it, but this was now changing.

At that time, the value in price had doubled almost overnight, Taylor said, making it an attractive option for builders, but now too many people had done that.

Taylor said when he looked at two-bedroom townhouses from January through to March, there had been over 512 – but when he looked at ones that didn’t have a garage there were only 56.

In March, Taylor said there were 331 consents for units.

As a result, Taylor said there were developments staying half-built where the builder had gone bust and it had to be put up for mortgagee action.

“We’re in that position where we’ve just overbuilt these things.”

He said there were 84 current listings online for two-bedroom townhouses in Christchurch.

In some cases, Taylor said people who had purchased a townhouse in 2021 or 2022, who had sold in 2025 or 2026, were getting about $100,000 less than they had paid.

There was an appetite for stand-alone, more traditional three-bedroom homes, Taylor said.

“I was speaking to an agent yesterday, he had 22 groups through just over a two-week period, but with units, they’d be lucky to get single digits in three weeks. So I believe people want to go back to that traditional housing.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The owner of Auckland’s Sylvia Park has posted a “robust” full-year result, with a higher operating profit as rental income and occupancy improved, but its bottom line fell as property valuations decreased.

Key numbers for the 12 months ended March 2026 compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $50.4m vs $56.9m
• Revenue $271.4m vs $263.7m
• Operating profit before tax $126.2m vs $116.6m
• Property valuation loss $37.8m vs $11.6m loss
• Final dividend 1.4 cents per share vs 1.35 cps

Kiwi Property Group, which was one of the country’s biggest landlords, has a vast portfolio that includes Sylvia Park, the 38-storey Vero Centre, The Base in Hamilton, and was planning a major town development in Drury.

KPG said the opening of Ikea adjacent to Sylvia Park in December had driven a significant improvement in foot traffic in the area, up nearly 8 percent over the four months since opening, compared to the prior year.

KPG said net rental income increased by 4.3 percent to $202.4 million, and the company is awaiting settlement of the $205m sale of ASB North Wharf at Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter in late May.

Its portfolio occupancy was at 99 percent, compared to 96.9 percent in the prior year, while its total portfolio was valued at $3 billion, which reflected a fair value decline of 0.9 percent amid a cooler market.

During the year, it sold The Plaza shopping centre in Palmerston North for $118.9m.

Chief executive Clive Mackenzie said KPG was focused on disciplined execution.

“Near-term priorities include progressing selective initiatives to further enhance portfolio quality, including completion of Sylvia Park’s southern enhancement project and the Vero Centre upgrade, alongside continued progress at Drury through the staged completion of land sales,” Mackenzie said.

“We will also continue to carefully manage operating costs and capital expenditure, while recycling capital from non-strategic assets where appropriate.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The Fitch credit ratings agency is warning the introduction of local government rate caps could increase the risk of credit downgrades across the sector.

The government is planning to introduce legislation this year that will eventually limit council rate increases to 4 percent, from 2029.

Fitch reviews the credit ratings of 18 councils across New Zealand.

Paul Norris, senior director at Fitch Ratings, said they had generally held a positive view of the sector, given the flexibility councils have had to raise revenue.

He said it was early days and some councils may yet be able to get exemptions from rate caps.

However, he said overall he probably expected it to weigh on credit profiles across the sector.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Food prices were flat in April, and up by less compared to the year earlier than they were in March.

But beneath that headline, there’s been significant variation across food items.

Here’s what’s getting cheaper, what’s dearer, how you might be able to save and where to next for food prices.

What’s cheaper?

Looking at annual averages 10 years ago compared to modern prices, not a lot is cheaper.

Of the 147 detailed prices that Stats NZ tracks, only seven have recorded drops over 10 years.

Avocados were down 22 percent from a decade ago.

Infometrics chief economist Brad Olsen said that was largely due to supply. “There’s been much higher supply and much more challenging demand conditions in recent times, where there just hasn’t been as much demand.

“If we were having this conversation as well a decade ago, we probably would have been rejoicing at the fact that surely with low avocado prices, you know, housing must be so much more affordable.

“Anyone saying ‘your avocado on toast is contributing to your inability to buy a house’ was wrong to start with, but it’s even more wrong at the moment when avocado prices have come back.”

Second was onions, down 7 percent from $2.13 a kilogram to $1.99, on average.

A 700g bag of frozen prawns dropped 3 percent over 10 years, and a packaged pasta-and-sauce meal was down 1 percent.

Over just the past year, the biggest drops were in cucumbers, down 23 percent, olive oil, down 21 percent, the packaged pasta meals, down 16 percent, carrots down 14 percent and cauliflower down 11 percent.

What’s got dearer?

Everything else.

Over 10 years, the biggest increases in prices were for eggs, butter, sultanas, canned pink salmon, kiwifruit, bread, corned beef, cabbage, grapes, and fish and chips.

Eggs were up 151 percent over 10 years.

“That’s because we’ve changed how we produce eggs in New Zealand, we’ve got rid of battery and caged options and moved towards more free-range options, which has increased the cost of operating,” Olsen said.

Butter was up 143 percent.

ANZ economist Matt Dilly said butter prices had fallen in the past few months but were still high.

“Global supplies were very tight from mid-2024 to late 2025, thanks to strong demand and poor weather in every dairy exporting country except New Zealand. We are starting to see butter prices come down as butter production has increased in New Zealand, Europe, and the US.

“But you’ll also notice a step change in pricing between 2006-2016 and 2016-present. This reflects shifting consumer preferences away from vegetable oils and toward butter for health reasons.”

Sultanas lifted in price by 116 percent. Dilly said most came from Turkey and Australia.

“Turkey is the largest producer and exporter, and they’ve been hit with bad weather last year. This has pushed production down and prices up. Hopefully prices will fall over the next few months.”

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said there had been significant rain and frost damage to Turkish crops. “Poor harvest have also been an issue fro things like coffee and chocolate prices in recent times.”

Salmon was up 101 percent, kiwifruit 93 percent, bread 90 percent, corned beef 87 percent and cabbage 78 percent.

Olsen said kiwifruit was driven by strong demand and challenging harvest conditions.

Dilly said kiwifruit was highly seasonal.

“Right now we are transitioning from imported Northern Hemisphere fruit to domestic fruit. That’s still ongoing, so retail prices will continue to drop as the harvest continues. Red and Gold are mostly picked, but Green is still underway. However, prices are going up year over year, if you just look at the lowest prices of each season. Some of that will be due to an increase in orchard gate prices in recent years, especially for green kiwifruit.”

Corned beef was likely to be because fewer cattle had been available for processing, Olsen said. He said other meat had also increased in price, but corned beef was cheaper to being with so the proportional increase was higher.

A serve of fish and chips increased from $6.09 on average in the year ending April 2016 to $10.77 this year.

Olsen said there was pressure on fish generally and fish fillets were them most expensive single item on a per unit basis.

“Over time as well, you’ve seen increases in potato costs and the cost of your cooking oil and everything else… energy cost increases, you’ve seen packaging cost increases, and probably most importantly, increases to the minimum wage over time, which generally affects those in hospitality a whole lot more.”

In the past year, the biggest price increases have been in dried apricots, up 56 percent, courgettes up 42 percent, avocado up 36 percent, sliced white bread up 35 percent, beans up 26 percent and roasting lamb up 21 percent.

How can we save money?

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub calculated people could save money on things like school lunches by making swaps.

By switching from ham to peanut butter for sandwiches, school policy permitting, and muesli bars to muesli, they could save $5.10 a week on school lunches, he said.

A Sunday roast for four people would cost $22.24 per person using beef sirloin but only $8.17 for roast chicken.

Where to from here?

HIgher fuel prices are expected to push up food prices, but that has not shown through in the data yet.

Olsen said that was what he expected. “The fact that diesel costs have increased by basically double in the last two months – most people’s pricing structures don’t adjust that quickly themselves. We do expect they’re coming. We just think here’s a bit of a delay or a lag as those cost changes come through the supply chain.”

DIlly agreed it was too soon to seen an impact.

He said would take three to six months for price changes to go from the point of origin to retail, depending on the product.

“Some costs will be passed on more quickly than others, and some costs will be absorbed in the supply chain before it reaches the consumer. We are keeping an eye on it, but wouldn’t expect to see a noticeable change for another few months.”

Westpac senior economist Satish Ranchhod said the impact might not show up until the latter part of the year.

“Higher costs for fuels and fertilizers will push up production costs here and abroad. The usual delay with growing cycles and shipping means those higher costs take several months to pass through to food prices, and that’s compounded by shipping times for items we import.

“So, while the April food price figures were a little on the soft side of expectations, we’re likely to see more pronounced upward pressure on food prices over the coming months.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

New Zealand First’s plan to buy back the Bank of New Zealand is an “outlandish proposal”, says an economist.

NZ First leader Winston Peters on Sunday announced a policy to automatically enrol all newborn citizens into KiwiSaver with a $1000 government contribution, alongside a proposal to buy back the Bank of New Zealand and merge it with Kiwibank to create a new state-owned bank.

Speaking at a campaign event at the Trusts Arena in West Auckland, Peters said the new entity – to be known as “National Bank of New Zealand” – would be commercially run and designed to compete more aggressively with the major Australian-owned banks operating in New Zealand.

Infometrics principal economist Brad Olsen said it “headline-grabbing” rather than “serious policy”.

He argued there were little details as to how the policies would be carried out, which made it difficult to understand what effects they might have.

He said it was was encouraging to see more political discussion around KiwiSaver, but he worried that continually changing the scheme would keep people from being able to plan ahead because of ever-changing rules.

He questioned where the party might find the funds for these policies.

“There’s talk around the likes of sovereign bonds and similar. That’s still debt that the government would effectively have to backstop and take on board. It would require a number of Kiwis to front up with a whole bunch of cash to buy a new bank when you still haven’t seen all that much interest in recent times around putting more money into Kiwibank.”

Olsen said there was not much money for the government to spend on such purchases, given necessary expenditure on such things as health, education and defence.

Massey Business School Professor Claire Matthews not only worried about finding the money for buying back BNZ, but also about what message it was sending to international companies.

“If he’s saying ‘we will buy it back’, he’s basically saying that National Australia Bank have got no choice. They will require them to sell it to them. That’s nationalisation. That’s a major thing for a government to do.”

She questioned why a single bank had been targeted if the goal was simply to make Kiwibank more competitive through a merger.

“So if it’s really just about fostering competition and fostering the New Zealand banking sector, then I don’t think you would be targeting a particular bank. You would simply be saying ‘we would like to discuss it and see if we can reach an agreement’, which is quite a different message.”

As for KiwiSaver, Matthews said making contributions compulsory was “one of the least important elements”. She said she would prefer an overhaul of the system rather than isolated changes.

But Rupert Carlyon, the managing director of KiwiSaver provider Kōura Wealth, disagreed that the system needed to be transformed.

He argued that the main issue was a lack of incentives for people to contribute. Even with mandatory contributions, “the economically rational person would not be contributing to KiwiSaver,” he said.

He pointed to Australia where money going into superannuation is taxed at a reduced rate and at the UK where contributions are tax-free as possible models.

Similarly, Carlyon did not understand how nationalising BNZ would solve issues in the banking sector – such as lowering interest and fees or increasing lending to small businesses.

“I mean, it just doesn’t make any sense to me. We own the electricity companies and we still can’t get them to deliver for consumers and for everyday New Zealanders. If we own one of the banks, how’s that going to be any different?”

He advocated for regulation instead.

Financial writer Martin Hawes said making KiwiSaver compulsory was much needed, and the earlier someone joined, the better.

“I think it was Oscar Wilde who said youth is wasted on the young, and that’s nowhere more true than in investment.

“Investment works with compound interest, and what you really need with compound interest is lots of time.”

He attributed high uptake of KiwSaver to the $1000 kickstart payment, which ceased more than a decade ago.

He said introducing the saving scheme early and bringing back a kickstart would incentivise the next generation to contribute.

Associate Professor of Finance at Victoria University, Martien Lubberink, said having two major banks merge and be government-owned was not optimal for attracting investment.

“That sort of politicking creates tremendous uncertainty among investors because they’ll be subject to regulatory risk. If there’s a new government, there will be a new policy for the bank.

“What you want is a long-term vision for the combined bank to survive, but if politics start interfering every few years, there’s too much uncertainty to make it work.

“There’s not really a problem with BNZ or Kiwibank, they’re making profits, they’re growing a bit, probably the best thing is to leave it alone.”

Concerns about funding the policies were echoed by the Labour Party.

“It was Labour who created Kiwibank and KiwiSaver. We welcome any serious conversations about improving both for New Zealanders but Winston Peters’ plan lacks details, such as how they plan to pay for it,” Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.

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A partnership to get green hydrogen trucks up and running in New Zealand says there is renewed interest in the technology as diesel prices remain high.

Hydrogen fuel company Hiringa and heavy vehicle leasing business TR Group have faced delays getting their model up and running, but say they are now close to getting a dozen hydrogen fuel cell trucks on the road.

They, and other advocates for sustainable transport, say they offer a helpful alternative to battery electric vehicles for heavy freight.

However, not everyone sees hydrogen as a viable way to decarbonise heavy vehicles, with some critics saying New Zealand should focus on building out battery technology instead.

Transport is New Zealand’s second-largest source of greenhouse gases after the dairy industry, accounting for 18 percent of total emissions in 2024.

Uptake of electric passenger vehicles slowed after the government ended the Clean Car Discount, although spiked again recently after the conflict in Iran sparked an ongoing fuel crisis.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) delivery and partnerships manager Richard Briggs said the heavy vehicle fleet had proved even tougher to decarbonise.

“There’s been a lot of tyre-kicking, literally, and early adopters are looking at both battery electric and hydrogen, but really only those with relatively deep pockets who are prepared to take a risk and invest are looking at this.”

Five years ago, TR Group and Hiringa signed an agreement to establish an initial network of both hydrogen trucks and refuelling stops.

The government contributed $6 million for the purchase of 20 trucks, through the Covid Response Fund, and loaned Hiringa $16m to build four refuelling stations in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton and Palmerston North.

Hiringa’s compressed gas is made and stored onsite at the refuelling stations, by using electrolysis to split water back into its components of hydrogen and oxygen.

The company uses off-peak renewable energy for the process, to make it as cheap as possible -TR Group said it was currently paying less for it per kilometre than diesel.

A battery fuel cell onboard each truck then converted the gas back into energy with water and heat as the by-products, with no tailpipe emissions.

Renewed interest after slow uptake

A handful of hydrogen heavy vehicles have been making use of the refuelling stations, including a New Zealand Post truck that has clocked a quarter of a million kilometres.

However, difficulties in procuring trucks after TR Group’s initial US supplier went bust had delayed getting the additional 20 trucks.

TR Group’s project manager Grant Doull said Rolleston-based company GVB had instead completed conversions of nine diesel trucks to hydrogen, with the final 11 due to start arriving at TR’s depot in Auckland from July.

The company had been training drivers and extensively testing routes since the first trucks arrived.

The delivery delays, combined with a post-Covid recession and cost-of-living crisis had “slowed progress” in securing commercial leases, Doull said.

“But we’ve definitely seen a massive uplift these days with the current fuel situation.”

The company was now in final contract negotiations to get 12 of the trucks out on the road.

Hiringa chief executive Andrew Clennett – whose business relied on having a fleet of vehicles to supply fuel to – said uptake had been slower than Hiringa would have liked.

“Obviously, sitting there with a network that’s been underutilised has put some pressure on,” he said.

That was changing now, he said.

“The market is definitely showing a lot more interest now. I think the penny’s dropped a little bit, that with the Ukraine war, we had a fuel crisis, we’ve got another one which is bigger and worse and longer, and it would be a brave director of a company that would bank on not having this again.”

Battery electric or hydrogen?

Doull said TR Group was already leasing out battery electric trucks and vans, which were a good zero-emissions choice in many cases.

“Let’s say if they operate the truck, four or five hours, maybe – it could be 500, 600 kilometres a day – say they have a depot where they’re loading and unloading and they’ve got good charging infrastructure at that depot, then it’s probably something that’s going to get solved with a battery electric truck quite easily.”

However, the battery on an electric truck could weigh several tonnes, limiting the rest of the payload, and long-haul trucks that operated round the clock could not easily be charged, he said.

The other advantage hydrogen offered at the moment was that the infrastructure was already available.

“The reality is there’s no heavy vehicle fast charging for trucks in the country at the moment,” Doull said.

“There are, however, four high-speed heavy commercial vehicle hydrogen refuelling sites.”

University of Canterbury Sustainable Energy Research Group co-leader Rebecca Peer said the previous hype of green hydrogen as a “Swiss Army knife” for decarbonisation had passed.

However, heavy transport was a “niche” that still had potential in New Zealand.

“The advantages I see for the hydrogen vehicles are particularly acute when you have very long distance or highly variable routes with unpredictable fuelling times,” she said.

From her perspective, it was not an either-or argument.

“My answer, as a researcher who looks at energy transitions, is yes to both.”

Briggs said because hydrogen had to be created, stored, and then converted back into energy, it was three to five times less efficient than battery electric.

Battery electric vehicles were also cheaper – with some good-quality models now achieving parity with their diesel equivalents, once EECA subsidies were included.

“On the surface of it, you say, it’s a no-brainer – why on earth would you consider hydrogen?”

There were other aspects to consider, though, including the “huge investment” needed for charging infrastructure, especially as megawatt batteries become available, Briggs said.

Like Peers, he believed there were still some good use-cases for hydrogen.

“There’s going to be more and more battery technology emerging in the next 10 years… but certainly from what we’re seeing I don’t think it’s yet game over for hydrogen,” he said.

“That long distance heavy haulage where you’re carrying maximum payload weights, where you’re needing to double-shift a vehicle – so refuelling time is needed in minutes, not hours – is still a use application for hydrogen.”

However, the time had passed where it was seen as a good answer to decarbonising passenger cars.

“Hydrogen doesn’t really make sense, largely because every car can be charged at home, and also the car battery then can be an integral part of the home energy system,” Briggs said.

“That’s just not a thing that hydrogen vehicles can replicate.”

EECA said the data collected from Hiringa and TR Group, once trucks were on the road carrying full pay-loads, would be shared with other operators considering purchasing or leasing a hydrogen vehicle – together with its existing data on battery electric heavy vehicles.

There is still $24m remaining in its low-emissions heavy vehicle fund, which provides companies with a subsidy of up to 25 percent of the cost of a hydrogen or battery electric heavy vehicle.

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The owner of Auckland’s St James Theatre has purchased two neighbouring properties on Queen Street and Lorne Street.

The heritage theatre, which opened in 1928, has been closed since a fire in 2007.

But in 2023, the government and Auckland Council each committed $15 million toward its restoration, and work is underway to reopen the theatre for its 100th anniversary in 2028.

St James owner, Steve Bielby, said the trust that owned St James Holdings, the Auckland Notable Properties Trust, had purchased 330-332 Queen Street and 57 Lorne Street.

He said it was a strategic decision that would make it easier to complete structural upgrades on the theatre’s south side.

“These buildings were built around 1900, and they’re hard up against the St James Theatre. So when we structurally upgrade the theatre, it will essentially destroy the building next door in an earthquake, so we have to do some works to that wall. Those works are a lot easier to do on the site than from within the St James site.”

He said the purchase also presented opportunities for expansion.

“It’s essentially a full site that runs from Queen Street to Lorne Street. It makes us the majority of the block, and it’s a through-site link. There are lots of hospitality offerings that could go in there. It would be a great hotel site. There are lots of options to complement a theatre.

“It also gives the ability to do what they did at The Civic. Larger-scale, Disney-style productions like Singing in the Rain require a larger backstage, so the backstage has to be extended. We’re not planning to do it, but this gives that option if that was ever desired.”

He said he bought the sites, which were currently commercial premises, from a family that had owned them for more than half a century.

He said the family had been very supportive of the theatre’s restoration.

The combined rateable value of the two properties is $7.55 million, but the St James Theatre said the purchase price was confidential.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

WorkSafe has laid charges against a listed Dunedin robotics company over the death of an employee.

Michael Sherry was killed in April 2025, in a workplace accident at Scott Technology.

WorkSafe says it has completed its investigation, and has charged the company with failing to ensure the health and safety of workers, exposing them to the risk of death or serious injury.

The maximum penalty is a fine of up to $1.5 million.

Scott Technology confirmed the charges with a statement on the NZX website.

“Scott Technology Limited has been informed by WorkSafe New Zealand of its intention to commence proceedings in relation to the tragic workplace accident that occurred at its Dunedin site in April 2025,” it said.

“The company is fully co-operating with WorkSafe, and remains committed to the safety and wellbeing of its people. With the WorkSafe process underway and out of respect for the family, the company will not comment further on the details at this time.”

Last October, the company signed new contracts totalling $44 million with multinational appliance manufacturers across the US and Brazil, including its largest-ever appliance contract in the United States.

The previous month, it launched a Destination 2030 strategy that targets sustainable, profitable growth and revenues of $530m by the end of the decade.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Noel Leeming believes Auckland’s CBD is coming to life again after a tough few years and it’s the right time to open a new branch.

The electronics company, which is owned by The Warehouse Group, moved out of Queen Street in 2021 because of pressure from the Covid pandemic and when its lease expired.

Iconic department store Smith and Caughey also closed last year after 145 years trading in Queen Street and Newmarket, citing of falling sales, disruption from roadworks and the construction of the city rail link, plummeting foot traffic and changing shopping habits.

Noel Leeming’s CEO Jason Bell said it was perhaps fortunate that Noel Leeming was not trading in the CBD over the past few years and the opening of its new interactive store on Queen Street later in September, is good timing.

“There’s been disruption from the city rail link but there’s also been massive investment in the future of the CBD. I’ve been down there a lot over the last few months and you can sense that it just feels different. There are more people around, there’s energy again. It just feels like the CBD is waking back up.”

Jason Bell said the expected opening of the city rail link, possibly at the same time as Noel Leeming’s new CBD branch, is another positive for the CBD.

He said the concept store is built around interaction and experience, with expert demonstrations, gaming events, product launches, and try-before-you-buy zones designed to turn a store visit into a destination experience.

“Think expert demos, gaming events, launches and immersive, hands-on experiences, this is a destination that truly earns its place in a vibrant CBD,” Bell says.

Apm (Auckland Property Management) is welcoming Noel Leeming’s decision.

“We see Noel Leeming’s commitment to Queen Street as a very positive signal for the wider CBD retail market. Major national brands investing back into the city centre helps strengthen confidence, increase foot traffic and contribute to the ongoing revitalisation of Queen Street,” said apm Commercial Senior Asset Manager Joseph Baranyai.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand