Monday February 2
KMD Brands sales momentum continues into second quarter
Brent Scrimshaw.
KMD Brands managing director and group CEO Brent Scrimshaw said he was pleased with the early progress of the group's transformation strategy.
Group sales for the NZX and ASX-listed retailer were up 8% for the two months through to the end of December.
Meanwhile, year-to-date sales from the five months through to the end of December were up 7.9% year on year.
Total sales for Rip Curl were up 4.4% for the second quarter, while sales for Kathmandu were up 12.1% for the same period.
Oboz Footwear delivered the largest growth, with total sales for the second quarter up 21% year on year.
KMD Brands expected the underlying ebitda for the first half of the 2026 fiscal year to range between $8 million and $11m, compared with $3.9m year on year.
Net debt for the same period was expected to lift to between $85m and $90m, up from $76.2m year on year. KMD Brands attributed the rise to a weakened New Zealand dollar.
KMD Brands will report full interim results on March 25.
Altered Capital gains first KiwiSaver investment via Pie Funds
Venture capital and private equity firm Altered Capital has secured its first KiwiSaver investment through a partnership with Pie Funds. The investment will be between 2% to 4% of the Pie KiwiSaver Scheme Aggressive Fund which had a total value of $50.5 million as at September 2025.
Pie Funds CEO Ana-Marie Lockyer said the deal strengthened its commitment to supporting ambitious Kiwi founders and provides its KiwiSaver members with access to high growth opportunities normally reserved for wholesale investors.
The Pie KiwiSaver Growth Fund has already invested $10m into Icehouse Ventures.
Pie Funds chief investment officer Mike Taylor will join Altered Capital’s first LP advisory committee.
Altered Capital managing partner McGregor Fea said the firm did a first close at $70m late last year of its second VC fund which it hopes to raise $100m for. It has gained other institutional investors for the first time including NZ Growth Capital Partners, K1W1, and Craigs Investment Partners.
Take two:
Altered Capital gains first KiwiSaver investment via Pie Funds
VC and PE firm Altered Capital has secured its first KiwiSaver investment through Pie Funds. The $2 million investment adds to the $10m Pie Funds invested into VC firm Icehouse Ventures last year.
CEO Ana-Marie Lockyer said the deal provides its KiwiSaver members with access to high growth opportunities normally reserved for wholesale investors.
The fund manager now has 2% of funds under management invested in VC and chief investment officer Mike Taylor, who will join Altered Capital’s first LP advisory committee, expects that percentage to grow as the number of listed high growth companies shrinks further. It's having to invest in the "next Xero" through VC due to a lack of IPOs, he said.
Altered Capital managing partner McGregor Fea said the firm did a first close at $70m late last year of its second VC fund which it hopes to raise $100m for. It has gained other institutional investors for the first time including NZ Growth Capital Partners, K1W1, and Craigs Investment Partners.
Precinct confirms $160m Mt Eden residential build
Not the Dova site.
NZX-listed Precinct Properties says it will go ahead with a 121-home development in Mt Eden across three apartment blocks, with construction expected to start in the latter part of this year.
The three-building development, on a 5250-square-metre site on the corner of Dominion and Valley roads, will come in at a capital cost of about $160 million. The three distinct buildings at its Dova development, will comprise 54, 43, and 24 units respectively.
Precinct's other ongoing residential projects include Pillars in St Mary's Bay, Fabric2 in Onehunga, the Domain Collection in Newmarket, and York House in Parnell.
Construction on Dova – which will feature 960 sqm of green space, a resident pavilion, and ground floor retail – is expected to kick off in the latter part of this year, the company said.
Tuesday February 3
Briscoe Group reports sales growth
Briscoe Group sales have lifted into record territory after a ‘strong’ fourth quarter.
Sales for the NZX-listed retailer during the fourth quarter rose 4.58% to a record $256.6m, up from $245.3m year on year.
Homeware sales rose 3.45% on the previous corresponding period, while sales for sporting goods rose 6.46%.
Unaudited full-year sales through to January 25 also crept into record territory, up just under 1% to $798.8m from $791.5m last year
Briscoe group managing director, Rod Duke said: “In a year marked by persistent pressure on consumer sentiment and discretionary spending – coupled with the group tracking behind last year’s sales for the first nine months – delivering strong fourth-quarter growth and achieving record full-year sales is an outstanding result."
The group’s full-year net profit after tax was expected to fall within the range of $59m to $60m, in line with previous guidance.
Briscoe Group will report its full-year result on March 11.
Sarah Court announced as new ASIC chair
Sarah Court.
Sarah Court has been appointed as the new chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) and will take over from the retiring Joe Longo from June 1.
Court, who will be first woman to lead the regulator in its 35 year history, has been deputy chair of Asic since 2001.
She also served in senior roles at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with responsibilities in litigation and enforcement.
Longo, a former corporate lawyer, has led Asic since 2021.
The Asic chair position is one of the best paid in the Australian public sector, with remuneration of almost A$880,000 ($1m) a year.
Building consents climb 9% in 2025
New Zealand building consents bumped higher in 2025, helped by increased activity in Auckland.
Stats NZ data today showed there were 36,619 new homes consented in New Zealand in the 12 months ended December last year, up 9% on 2024.
Consents in Auckland helped drive that increase, with more than half coming from that region alone, with other annual gains recorded in Canterbury, Waikato, Otago, and Wellington.
On a monthly basis, there was volatility in December, with consents falling 4.6%, after rising 2.7% in November.
In December, there were 3128 new dwellings consented, with 1494 townhouses, flats, and units; 1299 stand-alone houses; 263 retirement village units; and 72 apartments.
The data suggests a turning point for builders and tradies amid lower interest rates and inflation last year. The RBNZ is widely expected to hold the official cash rate steady for much of this year before contemplating a hike.
Peeni Henare joins list of MPs quitting politics
Peeni Henare.
Labour MP Peeni Henare is the latest politician to announce he is quitting politics.
Henare, who was first elected to Parliament as MP for Tāmaki Makaurau in 2014, will leave Parliament in the coming weeks, well before the November election.
He lost Tāmaki Makaurau in the 2023 election but stayed in Parliament as a list MP.
He said today that it was tough last year losing the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election and that, after careful consideration over the break, he had decided to step back from politics.
During his time as an MP, Henare served as Minister of Defence, Minister for Whānau Ora, and Minister for Tourism in the last Labour Government.
“I’m proud of our record in government and I know the next Labour Government will continue the hard mahi,” he said. But, for now, Henare said he would focus on his family, his wellbeing, and his future.
Wednesday February 4
SFO takes TV producer to court
The Serious Fraud Office has brought 33 charges against a television producer, accusing him of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars.
The SFO filed the charges in the Auckland District Court against Alexander Breingan, alleging he made false representations and used forged documents to access more than $4.3m of Government-funded rebates and $10.2m in lending.
The alleged offending relates to 13 TV programmes that were produced or proposed to be produced by Breingan through his Stripe Studios companies, which collapsed in 2024.
The matter was originally referred to the SFO by the New Zealand Film Commission, which raised concerns about applications Breingan made for the New Zealand Screen Production rebate.
Breingan currently lives abroad and is yet to appear in court.
Lyttelton Port.
Coal fires Lyttelton Port to ‘sustainable’ profitability
A 23% spike in coal volumes to 610,709 tonnes led a 13% increase in bulk trade to 1.9 metric tonnes at Lyttelton Port Company during the half year to December. That helped the country's third largest port to a 7.6% increase in revenues to $108.5 million, with net profit after tax up almost a fifth at $2.3m. And while container numbers were down 4% on the comparable period at 208,829 twenty-foot-equivalent-units (TEU), refrigerated volumes continued to track up. The port operator paid a final dividend to its Christchurch council parent of $7.69m, taking the 12-month stipend to $11.5m, which was slightly down on the $12.5m for the prior year. However, chief executive Graeme Sumner said the results were "another step" on the road towards a financially sustainable organisation. Sumner has come under fire by port workers for his restructuring plans, which were a big part of a $2.9m increase in expenses to $72.7m for the six months.
Thursday February 5
KPMG Australia outsources 200 roles to the Philippines
KPMG Australia is cutting almost 200 executive assistant roles in Australia, with many of the functions to be outsourced to the Philippines.
The move is part of a restructuring programme which aims for A$15 million ($17m) in savings.
Only 65 executive assistant roles will remain in Australia after the cuts.
KPMG slashed 635 roles in Australia last year as the firm’s revenues dipped by 4%.
KPMG’s New Zealand operations are not impacted by the restructuring.
Ballance's Kapuni plant.
Beleaguered Kapuni green hydrogen plant build to start
Construction of the $112.3 million Kapuni green hydrogen plant in South Taranaki is to begin this month after the project reached financial close, after years of delays and legal challenges.
The plant will supply renewable electricity to Ballance Agri-Nutrients' Kapuni facility and produce green hydrogen for emissions-free transport at Hiringa Energy’s refuelling stations.
Other partners in the project are Todd Energy, Parininihi ki Waitōtara and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, with $19.9m allocated from the former Provincial Growth Fund.
The project will generate renewable electricity through four 6.4 MW wind turbines, providing a combined installed capacity of 25.6 MW and supplying about 100 GWh of electricity per year – equivalent to powering 24,000 homes, more than New Plymouth's urban area.
It includes a 5 MW capacity hydrogen electrolyser to integrate with the wind farm and the Ballance Kapuni plant, which will produce up to two tonnes of hydrogen a day.
‘More questions than answers’ – analysts slash Synlait forecasts
Forsyth Barr analysts have slashed their forecast earnings for Synlait three years out, after the milk processor issued a profit warning on Wednesday.
In a research note issued on Thursday, Matt Montgomerie and Ben Crozier said Synlait’s warning of half-year losses was “meaningfully worse” than expected.
It appeared Synlait had to prioritise infant formula production at Dunsandel, which required less milk during a period of peak milk supply, leading to the sale of milk to other processors.
“We were aware of these challenges, but the magnitude is far greater than we envisaged. We walk away with many more questions than answers,” they said.
The analysts downgraded their forecast for 2026 earnings before interest and tax by $68.6 million, with a full-year ebit loss of $13m now expected. Their ebit forecasts for 2027 and 2028 were cut by 51% and 34%, respectively, to $28.5m and $34.3m. No return to dividends is now expected in the year to July 2028.
