Stacey van der Putten.
Stacey van der Putten is Auckland Transport's chief executive for 18 months from May 1, replacing outgoing CEO Dean Kimpton, who finishes up on April 30.
Van der Putten is currently Auckland Transport's director of Public Transport and Active Modes, and has worked for AT since 2017.
She will be paid an annual salary of $574,000.
AT chair Andrew Ritchie said van der Putten brought a wealth of institutional knowledge through a time of change and significant delivery, while Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said: “She is well versed on the complexities of the transport transition programme, and the expectations of what we want out of this reform, which is to ensure AT is ready to be strictly a delivery agency for public transport. "
Van der Putten is also chair of the Aotearoa Australasian Railway Association Committee, a TrackSafe board trustee, and a director of the Public Transport Association of Australia & New Zealand.
Tuesday April 21
KMD retail investors take up half their entitlements
Outdoor retailer KMD Brands has raised $11 million from retail investors at 6c a share.
In a statement to the NZX, KMD Brands said retail investors had taken up 52% of their entitlements under the offer, subscribing for about 182.6 million new shares.
Eligible retail shareholders who took up their full entitlements also applied for about $4.5m of additional new shares under the offer.
The 169.3 million shares that were not taken up would be offered for sale in a retail shortfall bookbuild today.
Share trading has been halted through to market open on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, as part of the same capital raise, KMD Brands raised $44.2m from institutional investors. About 79% of eligible shareholders took up their rights, and the remaining 132.4 million shares sold in an institutional bookbuild at 6c.
KMD aimed to raise $65.3m, to help it secure longer-term borrowing from its bank.
Wednesday April 22
Mercury upgrades profit guidance
Electricity generator and retailer Mercury has upgraded its forecast earnings for the year to June, citing higher renewable generation and “disciplined portfolio management”.
In a statement to the NZX, Mercury said it expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and financial instruments of $1.05 billion for the year, up from previous guidance in February of $1b.
Operating data showed hydro generation for the nine months to March of 3349GWh, up from 2541GWh for the same period a year earlier.
The volume-weighted average energy-only price for mass-market customers, which includes residential customers, was $200 per MWh for the three months to March, up 12% on the same quarter the previous year.
The VWAP for commercial and industrial customers was down 1% to $137.44 per MWh for the same period.
Air New Zealand CFO Richard Thomson resigns
Air New Zealand chief financial officer Richard Thomson has resigned from his role and will leave the airline on August 28.
Thomson rejoined Air New Zealand as CFO in March 2021 as the airline grappled with Covid-related border closures, which triggered redundancies and an exodus from senior management positions.
Thomson had been CFO of Metlifecare for three years, but before that, he spent 12 years in senior commercial and finance roles within the airline.
Air New Zealand CEO Nikhil Ravishankar said Thomson had been an exceptional leader during “one of the most significant periods” in the airline’s history.
“He has brought deep financial expertise, strong commercial judgement, and a calm, disciplined approach to the role. Richard is highly respected across Air New Zealand, the capital markets and the aviation sector and has made a lasting contribution to the airline.”
Air NZ said it has already commenced a search for a new CFO and will update the market when the process is complete.
Active Investor Plus visa refresh attracting investment
Erica Stanford.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says the Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa has already led to $1.49 billion of investment, with another $2.415b in the pipeline in its first year. Private lending was now at almost $900 million, with over $480m already in place. “Investments in private credit by AIP investors has had a significant impact for businesses looking to diversify their sources of capital and access more flexible lending arrangements, but who do not want to dilute equity in the business,” Stanford said. She said sectors that were already benefiting were aged care, healthcare, horticulture, data centres, digital media and technology, tourism, FMCG exporting, manufacturing and dental tech. Since the refresh of the policy a year ago, 609 applications had been received from 1988 people. The growth category remained the most popular, with most investment coming through managed funds, Stanford said.
Ebos lowers earnings guidance on possible A$10m cost hit
Dual-listed health and animal-care company Ebos Group has lowered its 2026 earnings guidance on the back of additional costs caused by the Iran war.
The company said on Wednesday it now expected underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) to be between A$610 million and A$620m, from earlier guidance of between A$615m and A$635m. That reflected additional costs of A$5m to A$10m, it said.
"Fuel prices have increased materially in recent months, driven by global supply dislocation and heightened geopolitical risks. In addition, there is a lesser impact on the price of hydrocarbon-related consumable products – for example, plastic wrapping and polystyrene foam. This has resulted in higher direct transport, consumables and logistics costs across the Group’s operations."
Earlier this month, analysts at Craigs Investment Partners had estimated Ebos' monthly freight costs could increase by up to $2.5m a month, due to the war in Iran.
Thursday April 23
Genesis upgrades profit guidance
Genesis Energy has upgraded its profit outlook for the year to June, citing improved hydrology and lower fuel costs from reduced thermal generation. In a statement to the NZX, Genesis said normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and financial instruments would be $515 million to $545m, up from guidance in February of $490m to $520m. For the three months to March, Genesis reported retail electricity sales volume of 563GWh, down 3.6% on the same quarter last year, but the price per unit was up 14.8% to $373 per MWh. Electricity customer numbers fell 9% to 313,878. Genesis said the reduction “reflects Genesis’ targeted rebalancing of supply and demand, with a continued focus on improving margin quality across the portfolio”. Thermal generation during the quarter was down 67% on a year earlier, at 236GWh. Genesis said its gas-fired Unit 5 at Huntly was mostly offline in the quarter, “with available gas redirected to higher-value industrial customers".
Business spend on R&D drops as a percentage of GDP
The latest Stats NZ research and development survey shows business R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP fell to 0.95% from 0.98% between 2024 and 2025. That compares with the OECD average of around 2%, although it is as high as 5.9% in Israel and 2.7% in the US. Business R&D spend was $4.1 billion in 2025, up just 0.4% on 2024. Over 40% of businesses said they expected their future R&D spend to stay the same, which has been the trend since 2018. The latest survey doesn’t include government R&D spend, but last year’s survey showed NZ’s overall R&D expenditure as a proportion of GDP rose to 1.54% from 1.49%, which is well below the OECD average of 2.7%. The number of businesses reporting R&D activity fell just under 1% to 2265, while the number of full-time equivalent staff working on R&D dropped 5.1% to 19,000. The Science System Advisory report said investment in R&D was core to productivity growth, and a failure to accept and act on that had led to NZ's productivity lag.
ComCom declines Kegstar’s proposed acquisition of Konvoy
The Commerce Commission has declined Kegstar New Zealand’s bid to acquire Konvoy New Zealand. Kegstar and Konvoy both supply pay-per-fill services to breweries. The merger proposed to bring together the only providers of such services in New Zealand. Chair John Small said it did not meet the competition threshold. “The evidence gathered by the commission indicated that Kegstar and Konvoy compete closely for the supply of PPF services to customers, and the merger would eliminate this competition. Our investigation showed that there are no existing competitors that could constrain the merged entity, and that entry from a new competitor is unlikely.” The proposed acquisition is also under investigation by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
Maui to cease production this year, says OMV
Oil and gas producer OMV New Zealand has written a further $254.9 million off the value of its assets, saying it has warned the Government the Maui gas field will cease production at the end of 2026.
In financial statements filed for the year to December 2025, OMV NZ reported a net loss of $148.1m from revenue of $496.8m.
According to the report, Maui could end production earlier or later, “depending on late life field performance”. However, “based on current reserve assessments, the related assets have been fully impaired in 2025”.
As well as the Maui gas field, OMV NZ owns 69% of Maari and 74% of Pohokura oil and gas production fields.
During the year OMV reported revenue of $177.6m from the sale of gas and $293.5m from the sale of crude oil and condensate. Expenses included $39.8m paid in royalties.
Net assets at balance date were $186.2m.
