In case you missed it: News bites for the week.
Genesis Energy’s application to continue operating and maintaining the Tekapo power scheme has been approved under the Fast-track Approvals Act. It is the first renewable energy project to get approval under the coalition Government’s fast-track process, with Regional Development Minister Shane Jones saying the approval was a great example of the law doing exactly what it was meant to.
“The Tekapo power scheme generates enough clean energy to power more than 228,000 Canterbury households and it plays a vital role in keeping our grid reliable. There is absolutely no reason why such important projects should stay tangled up in red tape and economic progress should be constricted by bureaucratic nonsense,” he said.
RMA Minister Chris Bishop said Genesis applied for fast-track approval in April and the process took just 80 days once the expert panel was appointed.
Mortgage lending climbed by 21.1% year on year in September to $6.38 billion, though still about 5% off the peak lending period in 2021, reflecting increased market activity and borrowers refinancing for lower rates. Credit bureau Centrix said that pushed overall new household lending by 20.2%, helped by an increase of 10.3% increase in non-mortgage lending across credit cards, vehicle, and personal loans to $568 million for the month. The number of consumers behind on payments dropped to 11.99% after hitting a peak of 13.09% last January. Centrix noted that credit demand was also up 3.5%, led by a 31% jump in demand from the hospitality sector and a 21% increase from retail businesses. Centrix managing director Keith McLaughlin said there was some room for cautious optimism as the country headed into the final quarter of the year. "It will be interesting to see what impact changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act legislation will have in the coming months," he said.
Sirma Karapeeva.
Dairy prices have slipped again at the latest overnight auction, with key export commodity whole milk powder down 2.7% to US$3503 per metric tonne, marking the fifth consecutive decline. Most other products on offer experienced price drops, except for mozzarella and buttermilk powder. The overall GDT index declined 2.4% to US$3768 per metric tonne. ASB said the recent declines were consistent with its $9.75 per kg milk solids price forecast to farmers for the season. Last month, Fonterra’s shareholders strongly backed its $4.22 billion sale of Mainland Group at a special meeting. Proceeds from the sale of the business to French multinational Lactalis, expected to be completed in the first half of 2026, will partly be used to fund a capital return to shareholders of $2 a share, or $3.2b.
NZX-listed Santana Minerals has received a 30-year mining permit for its Bendigo-Ophir gold project in Central Otago. Santana applied for the permit in March and it was granted by the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment on November 5, covering 3265ha. Santana on Monday filed an application for fast-track resource consent to mine at the project. The company said the application totalled 9400 pages and 135 reports covering water, ecology, landscape, heritage, air quality, economics, mine closure and rehabilitation.
The Commerce Commission has authorised an agreement among four electricity generator retailers – Genesis, Contact, Meridian and Mercury – delivering access to reserve capacity at Huntly Power Station. The deal, known as a Strategic Energy Reserve Huntly Firming Option, involves Contact, Meridian and Mercury paying annual fees to Genesis for 10 years in exchange for the ability to tap generation from Huntly’s coal and gas-fired Rankine Unit 2. Commission chair John Small said the public benefits of the arrangement probably outweighed the potential anti-competitive effects. “The commission is aware of the difficulties currently facing the electricity sector and, after thoroughly testing the impacts of this authorisation, believes there is significant public benefit in ensuring security of supply for New Zealanders during dry years,” he said. The commission said Genesis was working on ways to offer further reserve capacity to other customers and its progress would be monitored.
Shareholders of Allied Farmers have approved the $7.5 million sale of its livestock trading business to Christchurch-based Rural Livestock. A resolution on the transaction at Allied’s annual meeting on Thursday was passed by 96.4% of votes, with 3.6% against. Chair Shelley Ruha said the sale would allow the company to “redeploy the sale proceeds into investment opportunities that offer a stronger and more sustainable earnings profile”. In other resolutions, Ruha was re-elected to the board with a 99.9% vote, while the re-election of Phil Luscombe was passed by 88.6%, with 11.4% voting against.
Finaccess Restauració has cleared the 90% shareholding hurdle in its bid to take over Restaurant Brands. In September, the Mexican company offered to acquire the 25% of the fast food company it didn't already own for $5.05 per share. Although the price was below the $5.24 to $6.20 per share valuation range issued by independent adviser Calibre Partners, Restaurant Brands’ independent directors recommended shareholders accept the offer, saying the risks to shareholders “outweighed” the offer price. Today, Finaccess reported that it had reached the 90% threshold, giving it the right to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares from minority shareholders. It has indicated it intends to do so.
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