In case you missed it: News bites for the week.
Gregor Barclay.
Smartpay chair Gregor Barclay will join Rakon as an independent director.
Barclay is the founding partner of advisory firm Claymore Partners and a director of several private companies, including Pacific Forest Products and environmental consultancy Boffa Miskell. He is also a director of New Zealand Rugby and a former chair of New Zealand Cricket and the International Cricket Council.
Rakon chair Lorraine Witten said Barclay’s “strategic governance” and “business acumen” would be an asset to the board.
He joins Rakon after a tumultuous chapter in its history, with the company having chewed through seven independent directors in the past 12 months. The boardroom drama reached a crescendo at its annual meeting in August, where independent directors Mark Bregman, Jon Raby and Lisbeth Jacobs withdrew their nominations to formally join the board.
Following Barclay’s appointment, Rakon’s board will have five directors, three of whom are deemed independent.
Border crossings snuck over the one million number in August, led by Australians headed for their winter holiday, up 3.9% on the prior year but still at about 92% of the pre-pandemic's 1.1m for August 2019. Overall arrival numbers were at 3.41m during the 12 months to August 2025, led by a surge in Australians by 142,000 at 1.47m, according to Statistics NZ data. There were also more Americans headed through NZ customs, at 380,000, up 22,000 on the prior year, while UK numbers were up 20,000 at 190,000. Stats NZ said there were also record arrivals during August of NZ-resident travelers from the Cook Islands, at 12,700, and Indonesia, at 12,200 people. Tourism Industry Aotearoa CEO Rebecca Ingram said the tourism sector had a renewed sense of confidence led by increased, but variable, arrival numbers. TIA's latest workforce survey showed 86% of organisations were confident about the year ahead as they headed into the busier summer season, up 11% on last year's results.
Nuno Matos.
Banking group ANZ will cease its share buyback and is targeting A$800 million in 2026 savings as part of the new strategic plan unveiled today by chief executive Nuno Matos.
Matos, who took over from Shayne Elliott in July, said ANZ would stop the remaining A$800m of the A$2 billion buyback as it looks to preserve cash.
ANZ, which has already announced more than 3000 job cuts, is also targeting A$800m in savings in 2026 as it seeks to reduce duplication and simplify its business.
The Matos strategy is strongly focused on the bank's underperforming Australian retail operations, and puts a priority on accelerating the integration of the Queensland-based Suncorp banking operation.
Scott Technology has secured $44 million in new contracts with multinational appliance manufacturers across the United States and Brazil, including the company's largest-ever appliance contract in the US.
The company did not reveal the customer names or the value of the individual contracts due to commercial sensitivity, but said securing them in the first month of the new financial year provided early momentum for its newly launched strategy 'Destination 2030', which targets revenue of $530m by that date.
Scott said the contracts will see it deliver "large-scale automation systems for precision manufacture of household laundry appliances", by "combining high-speed production with advanced diagnostics and servo-electric clinching technology".
CEO Mike Christman said “manufacture reshoring, evolving supply chains, and ongoing labour scarcity are driving the industry to reimagine production" and Scott is in an ideal position to capitalise on the change.
Scott Pritchard.
Listed commercial real estate developer Precinct Properties says it has placed $285 million of its stapled shares with institutional investors as part of its $310m equity raise announced on Monday. Chief executive Scott Pritchard said the placement was fully subscribed at the fixed price of $1.23 per share. The offer was made at a 7.5% discount to the last close price of $1.33 on October 10. Trading in the new shares will start from Friday, following settlement. The company said details of the associated $25m offer to NZ shareholders will be released tomorrow. Returns from the issue would be used to progress Precinct's $3.7 billion of work in the pipeline, alongside its capital partners, it said. The market greeted the placement by pushing Precinct stock down 4.89% to $1.265 in early trade on Tuesday.
Aramex and GoSweetSpot have agreed settlements to resolve separate civil High Court proceedings brought by the Commerce Commission relating to engaging in cartel conduct.
In a statement, the ComCom said it "does not allege that Aramex and GoSweetSpot entered into an agreement with each other".
Instead, it said Aramex had admitted to entering into and giving effect to a contractual arrangement that allocated customers and fixed prices "between itself and another competitor" in the courier services market.
"Separately, GoSweetSpot has admitted to entering into and giving effect to contractual arrangements that allocated customers between itself and another competitor in the courier services market."
The contracts were negotiated in the context of reseller/carrier arrangements. Aramex is a carrier, while GoSweetSpot is a reseller that "brokers" the provision of courier services, which means they can compete for the same customers.
Penalty hearings are due to be scheduled shortly.
Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC.
Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC will step down in February after 10 years in the role. Attorney-General Judith Collins said Jagose began her job in February 2016 after a stellar career in the public service as a lawyer and leader. “I have enjoyed working with Ms Jagose. She can be proud of her time in the role, and I am grateful to her for her huge efforts during the past 10 years,” Collins said. But Jagose’s term has not been without controversy, with survivors of abuse while in state care calling for her removal last year because she had led the Crown’s legal efforts to try to block survivors’ civil claims. Collins backed Jagose last year but said the Solicitor-General had acknowledged that Crown Law had not met the high standards people expected of it and had apologised for that.
Black Pearl Group achieved annual recurring revenue of $19.5 million at the end of September, up 39% on the previous quarter. The NZX-listed software company reported a busy quarter, including navigating a capital raise, as well as the acquisition and integration of B2B Rocket and applying for ASX listing. B2B Rocket’s initial integration into the group had been "very successful", it said. "In Q3, the focus will shift to embedding the Pearl Engine to fully realise the benefits of the platform. Once completed, B2B Rocket will be deeply integrated into the group’s data ecosystem – driving higher-quality leads, stronger demo conversions, and reinforcing the group’s multi-engine growth model and recurring revenue momentum." Churn improved to 4.6% down from 4.9% in Q1 FY26. In terms of outlook, the company said it "remains on a strong trajectory towards its next major milestone of $50m ARR", and was also on track to list on the ASX in November.
The coalition Government is reviewing regulations in hospitality to help cut costs for the sector. Regulation Minister David Seymour said the review, which would take six months, covered all regulations applying to restaurants, cafes, bars, food stalls, food trucks, catering businesses and hotels. But gambling regulations were not part of the review. “Inconsistent requirements cost owners valuable time and money. For example, some business owners might be required to get resource consents on top of alcohol licences, so that customers can enjoy a cold beer in the sun. In other areas of the country, just an alcohol licence is required,” Seymour said. Hospitality and Tourism Minister Louise Upston said unnecessary regulations were making it tough for the hospitality industry to reach its full potential.
NZX-listed horticulture company Scales Corporation has lifted its 2025 financial earnings guidance yet again, saying it continues to see positive performance across the group despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty. The company said that it now expected its underlying net profit after tax would be between $54m and $59m, up from previous guidance of between $51m and $56m. "We are seeing a continuing positive performance across the group this year," managing director Andy Borland said. "While some geopolitical uncertainties remain, we are pleased to be able to advise a further increase in earnings guidance for FY25.” The company also said today that director Alan Isaac had retired from the board, effective yesterday, and had been replaced by Paul Munro. Munro is a director at New Zealand King Salmon as well as private companies, including Orion New Zealand, Tait International, and Cambridge Partners.
NZX-listed carpet maker Bremworth has cleared the first of many hurdles to sell its business to the owner of rival firm Godfrey Hirst. The company told the market late on Wednesday that Australia’s competition regulator did not intend to conduct a public review of the scheme implementation agreement. Bremworth still needs the approval of shareholders, the High Court, the Commerce Commission and Inland Revenue for the deal to go ahead. Subject to those conditions being satisfied, Bremworth expects the sale to New York-listed Mohawk Industries to be completed in the first half of 2026. Under the arrangement, announced on October 2, Mohawk subsidiary Floorscape has agreed to acquire 100% of the shares in Bremworth in a deal that is expected to return between $1.05 and $1.15 per share to investors. The midpoint of the range is 77% higher than its last closing price prior to the deal being announced, and values the company between $74m and $81m.
Meal kit delivery service HelloFresh has been fined $845,000 following a case brought by the Commerce Commission.
In March, the competition regulator alleged the company misled customers in cold calls used to re-activate customers who had cancelled the food delivery service.
The conduct was said to have occurred between February 2022 and July 2023, when the ComCom said HelloFresh customers were offered a discount voucher without it being made clear that accepting the voucher would reactivate their subscription.
Yesterday, the company was fined $845,000 following a hearing in the Auckland District Court.
In a statement, HelloFresh Australia and New Zealand chief executive Tom Rutledge said the company unreservedly apologised for its shortcomings.
"Since mid-2023, HelloFresh New Zealand has put measures in place to prevent this from happening again... Customers who were affected received refunds or credits, and we deeply regret the frustration caused."
Dual-listed Manuka Resources – whose offshore Taranaki ironsands mining project is going through fast-track consenting – has halted trading in its shares pending a capital raise announcement.
In a statement to the NZX, the company said the halt would allow a bookbuild to take place in an orderly manner.
The announcement follows a ‘please explain’ notice from the ASX over a 72% share price gain from October 10 to 13.
Manuka Resources responded to the notice saying it was not aware of any information not available to the market that could explain the trading.
For the year to June, Manuka Resources reported zero revenue and a loss of A$16.9m.
Cash at balance date was A$968,645 and its operating cashflow for the year was negative A$5.2m.
Parmjeet Parmar.
The Act Party has proposed an amendment to a bill seeking to ban retail payment surcharges, saying the legislation needs to make sure it doesn't unintentionally make consumers worse off, nor unfairly punish businesses.
Act's commerce and consumer affairs spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar has written to the chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee to propose a "targeted amendment" to the Retail Payment System (Ban on Merchant Surcharges) Amendment Bill, which would enable retailers that offer a fee-free alternative to be able to surcharge customers for more convenient options.
"If retailers are forced to absorb every payment fee without being able to offer alternatives, some may stop offering contactless or credit card options altogether – or simply raise prices for everyone," said Parmar.
Retail NZ Carolyn Young said she supports the amendment, while the current Bill would entrench the dominance of major card companies and make it harder for new payment technologies to emerge.
Halyey Horan has been announced as the next chief executive of Business Central and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.
She replaces Simon Arcus, who resigned abruptly from the role in July after experiencing symptoms of burnout.
Horan has previously held senior roles at Microsoft and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, including as the trade commissioner to Singapore. She also used to run Turners Auctions in Wellington and played a role in the Z Energy retail transformation.
“In a time of increasing challenges for businesses, both globally and at home, it is more important than ever to have strong leadership championing the voice of business and we think Hayley will be an exceptional addition to our team,” Business Central said in an email today.
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