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Tag: New Zealand

  • Bubble tea franchise set to expand throughout New Zealand

    Bubble tea franchise set to expand throughout New Zealand

    New Zealanders have a growing thirst for the popular Asian drink “bubble tea,” with more stores expanding around the country next year.

    Bubble tea or boba tea is made with soft tapioca balls called pearls and originated in Taiwan in the 1980.

    The drink has become popular around the world with global sales of tapioca pearls growing at 4 per cent a year.

    Bubble tea sales in New Zealand are growing around 20 per cent a year, according to Marcus Teh, New Zealand manager of Gong Cha, an international chain of bubble teahouses.

    Auckland’s large Asian student population initially drove its popularity, he said, but this year around 30 per cent of customers were Kiwis.

    The black balls at the bottom of the glass are tapioca pearls.

    “Marketing plays a part but the bubble tea culture and drinks are slowly being loved by Kiwis,” Teh said.

    “We already know our brand is loved by Asians so we are trying to attract more New Zealanders.”

    Retail licensing expert Katrina Hammon said bubble tea bars were the new juice bars.

    “It’s new, different and on trend globally. McDonald’s Germany even added bubble tea to the menu in 2012, so New Zealand is well behind this trend,” she said.

    One of the pull factors of tea was the experience, she said.

    “The Chatime Tea brand, another chain of teahouses has an unique fit out, consumers can see the product being made and add in pearls. There are also healthy options like sugar free options, chia seeds, aloe vera.”

    Gong Cha and Chatime each have more than 1000 stores worldwide and three stores in Auckland.

    A fourth Gong Cha is set to open at Sylvia Park in November.

    Teh said potential franchisees had been in contact asking him to open stores in the South Island. He plans on opening three more stores next year, including in Wellington and Christchurch.

    Gong Cha will hire 20 staff in addition to the team of 30 already working for the company.

    The company was recently voted the most popular food and beverage brand in Singapore, and was also named the most popular tea brand in Korea.

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  • Adairs continues with international expansion plans

    Adairs continues with international expansion plans

    Bedding retailer, Adairs, announced it will continue its international expansion next year and will roll out new stores in New Zealand and launch an international website.

    Mark Ronan, managing director and CEO, stated after the successful opening of their store in New Zealand, the company is looking into opening up to two additional stores in the country.

    Ronan said the company is also looking to deliver an international website in 2018.

    “Adairs has considerable opportunity to grow inside and outside of Australia and we will continue to assess these opportunities over the coming year,” he said.

    Ronan said Adairs will also continue to invest in their product team by adding resources to ensure that they “can deliver great product to customers.”

    “As I reflect on the lessons of the last 12 months, it has served to enhance my confidence that our strategy is sound, and our results will be most influenced by our successful execution of this strategy, rather than matters beyond our control,” he said. “‘Product, product and product’ refers to our product differentiation, range optimisation and merchandise planning strategy. Adairs is a product and design led business. Great product is critical to our success.”

    The company has posted a seven per cent increase in total sales for FY17, like-for-like sales, however, finished down 1.4 per cent.

    The company’s online sales continued to grow with investments in this area seeing second half sales up 41 per cent on the prior year. Despite growing total sales, Adairs’ NPAT result was well down on the prior year, with the large majority of this decline coming in the first half.

    Michael Butler, chairman of Adairs also addressed the ASIC infringement notice, denying the allegation asserting the retailer “has complied with its continuous disclosure obligations at all times.”

    “Nevertheless, your Bboard considered that it was in the best interests of Adairs to pay the penalty of $66,000 to enable the management team to focus on the operations of the business and avoid the anticipated cost and management diversion of defending this allegation,” he said.

    “Adairs is committed to keeping our shareholders fully informed.”

  • Timberland buys Icebreaker

    Timberland buys Icebreaker

    US-based global fashion brand owner VF Corporation has bought New Zealand’s Icebreaker Holdings.

    Icebreaker pioneered the ethical and sustainable production of natural performance apparel for men, women and children, using Merino wool, plant-based fibres and recycled fibres.

    The brand is sold in 47 countries through wholesale, branded retail stores and online.

    The company has an annual turnover of about US$150 million, however terms of the sale were not disclosed.

    Jeremy Moon, who founded the company in 1995, says it was always his plan to build a global brand from New Zealand.

    “Our partnership with VF provides us with the largest platform in the world to tell our story, access new markets and reach new consumers at an accelerated pace. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our global Icebreaker brand team and for our wool suppliers to introduce a whole new universe of consumers to the benefits of sustainably farmed, ethically sourced, New Zealand Merino wool,” he said in a statement announcing the deal.

    “Bringing the Icebreaker brand into the VF portfolio is a special opportunity,” added Steve Rendle, chairman, president and CEO of VF Corporation. “Its natural fiber focus is an ideal complement to our SmartWool brand, which also features Merino in its clothing and accessories. Together, the SmartWool and Icebreaker brands create an advantaged position for VF as a leader in the growing and underpenetrated natural fibre category. We will have unmatched capabilities that will strengthen our ability to create innovative and sustainable natural fiber products across our brand portfolio, especially in VF’s outdoor and workwear brands.”

    VF Corporation has a diverse portfolio of lifestyle brands, including Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Wrangler and Lee.

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  • JB Hi-Fi sales slow as New Zealand turnaround begins

    JB Hi-Fi sales slow as New Zealand turnaround begins

    JB Hi-Fi has recorded significantly lower sales on the prior corresponding period (pcp) in the first weeks of FY18 trading, outlining an expectation that the market will remain competitive heading into the Christmas trading period.

    In a trading update delivered at its Annual General Meeting on Thursday, JB Hi-Fi advised that year-to-date sales growth to October 22 was 6.2 per cent, down from 14.3 per cent in the pcp.

    Comparable sales growth for JB Hi-Fi was 3.2 per cent, down from 10 per cent in the pcp, while The Good Guys booked 3.1 per cent total sales growth and 2.4 per cent comparable sales growth.

    Sales moderated in September and October due to changes in the timing of “key product releases” from last year, which the company said had elevated sales growth in the pcp.

    “[We] expect the market to remain competitive as retailers drive for market share in the lead up to the key Christmas period,” the company said on Thursday.

    “In JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys, we believe we have to unique and relevant brands, particularly in the eyes of our customers … we are confident we will maintain our market leading competitive position.”

    JB Hi-Fi Group CEO Richard Murray told investors at the AGM that since Terry Smart had been appointed as managing director of The Good Guys in April a variety of positive changes had been made to the business.

    This has reflected in TGG’s year-to-date trading, which is well up on the 1.3 per cent decline in comparable sales that JB Group booked for the business between November 2016 and June 2017.

    Murray reiterated his confidence in JB’s prospects against incoming competitors like Amazon, saying the strategy that’s been adopted to deal with the changing retail landscape has been extensively researched.

    “We have engaged and researched internationally and have challenged our current and future strategies, particularly as they relate to new competitors,” Murray said.

    “From price intelligence and benchmarking, delivery and fulfilment capability, digital infrastructure to customer experience, we have undertaken detailed analysis and planning and are confident in our go to market plans.”

    Murray also signalled that the first stages on his turnaround of NZ operations, which he called out at the full-year result in August, are underway, with the launch of a new e-commerce website.

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  • Hawaiki Cable nearly ready for installation

    Hawaiki Cable nearly ready for installation

    The companies behind the planned Hawaiki transpacific cable connecting Australia and New Zealand with the US have revealed that installation of the cable is due to commence next month.

    Hawaiki Submarine Cable and cable supplier TE Connectivity said the 14,000km of subsea cable are in the final stages of being loaded onto two cable laying vessels.

    All installation permits for the planned landings in Australia, New Zealand and the US have meanwhile been secured, and the system remains on track for completion in mid-2018.

    Once complete, the Hawaiki Cable will link the three nations via Hawaii and American Samoa, with options to expand to multiple south Pacific islands such as Fiji and Tonga. It will be the highest cross-sectional capacity link between the US and Australia and New Zealand.

    “The coming months will see the realization of our vision for Hawaiki, a system that will impact the capabilities and economies of hundreds of Pacific communities,” Hawaiki Submarine Cable CEO Remi Galasso said.

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  • ANZ markets outpaced in mobile shopping

    ANZ markets outpaced in mobile shopping

    Growth in online shopping in Australia and New Zealand is much slower compared to some emerging markets in the Asia Pacific region, according to the recent Mastercard Mobile Shopping Survey.

    Emerging markets in Asia Pacific have recorded high year-on-year growth in mobile shopping, outpacing their more developed counterparts. India, at 75 per cent, has retained its crown as the region’s top mobile shoppers for the second consecutive year; China, at 71.4 per cent, remains a close second.

    The Philippines (53.5 per cent) and Malaysia (55.6 per cent) have the highest year-on-year growth in mobile shopping, recording increases of 12.6 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively.

    While the Philippines, Malaysia, China and India have recorded growth in mobile spending, the more advanced markets like Japan (31 per cent), Australia (26 per cent), and New Zealand (26 per cent) are keeping their mobile purse strings tight, the study showed.

    The study also revealed Asia Pacific’s penchant for mobile shopping has also fueled a steady increase in digital wallet adoption, with more than one in five consumers (22.3 per cent) using such payment methods. The region’s consumers are also embracing QR code payments. Over one in ten consumers use QR code payments with the most avid users hailing from China (42.6 per cent) by a wide margin.

    “Consumers in many of Asia Pacific’s emerging markets are mobile-first users, having leapfrogged the traditional payment evolution,” said Benjamin Gilbey, senior vice president, Digital Payments and Labs, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “Their governments are making significant efforts to push the development of the e- and m-commerce landscape as well as its supporting infrastructure, which has in part contributed to the growth we’ve seen in the latest survey results.”

    Gilbey said today’s consumers have shifted from simply being one-device users to one-app users as they demand more seamless payment experiences.

    The Mastercard Mobile Shopping Survey, which was carried out across fourteen markets in Asia Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand & Vietnam) where total of 8,738 consumers aged 18-64 were polled online, revealed that majority of consumers across the region (53.6 per cent) cite convenience as a key reason for shopping on their mobile devices, particularly those in China (70.9 per cent), Thailand (60.8 per cent) and Taiwan (59.2 per cent). Contrary to the rest of the region, majority of consumers in Malaysia cited the ability to shop on the go as a key reason, as opposed to convenience.

    Clothing and fashion accessories (34.9 per cent), personal care and beauty products (21 per cent) and movie tickets (20.2 per cent) are the top purchases made by Asia Pacific’s mobile shoppers, the study showed. This was not the case, however, for mobile shoppers in Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan, whose top purchases include books, CDs and DVDs; toys and gifts; and personal and beauty care products, respectively.

    Preferences for in-store shopping continues its steady decline across Asia Pacific, dropping to 45.9 per cent from 48.6 per cent two years ago.

  • New Zealand expanding national fiber network

    New Zealand expanding national fiber network

    The New Zealand government plans to extend its Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) national fiber network to 190 more small towns.

    The government has announced plans to spend NZ$130 million ($93.4 million) to extend the network to 60,000 new households and businesses across the nation and complete the UFB deployment by 2022.

    A further NZ$130 million will be spent to expand the concurrent Rural Broadband Initiative (UFB) to bring non-fiber broadband to another 74,000 rural premises, and to extend mobile coverage to an extra 1,000km of rural highways as part of the Mobile Black Spot Fund.

    The RBI involves a combination of upgrades to existing fixed line infrastructure and fixed wireless infrastructure.

    “We started UFB in 2010 with the original goal of connecting 34 towns to world-class fibre-to-the-premises. Earlier this year we expanded it to 200 more towns and today’s announcement will bring us to 390,” New Zealand communications minister Simon Bridges commented.

  • Flight Centre buys two New Zealand firms

    Flight Centre buys two New Zealand firms

    ASX-listed Flight Centre Travel Group bought two local travel firms for a combined A$19.5 million as it seeks to expand its footprint in New Zealand, making it one of the country’s biggest travel management groups.

    In its annual earnings published to the ASX on Thursday morning, the Brisbane-based company said it has agreed to buy Travel Managers Group (TMG) for an initial A$8.37m and Executive Travel Group (ETG) for an initial A$11.17m, each with working capital adjustments to be made.

    TMG provides systems and support to a network of 180 travel brokers and operates a 22-shop franchise network including 12 TravelSmart shops and 10 other non-branded stores, while ETG is New Zealand’s biggest independent corporate travel manager.

    The Australian travel agent’s New Zealand business generated total transaction value of A$1.1 billion in the year ended June 30, 2017, up 10 per cent from a year earlier.

    Chief operating officer Melanie Waters-Ryan said the business was “successfully executing its key global strategies which include enhancing productivity in the short-term”.

    “The company has also strengthened its presence in the home-based/independent contractor sector, a rapidly growing part of the travel industry, by recently agreeing to buy established networks in both New Zealand (Travel Managers) and Australia,” she said.

    When it announced the deals at the beginning of August, Flight Centre said the purchases made New Zealand its fifth biggest business globally.

  • FJT Logistics ships ocean cruising trimaran from Vietnam to New Zealand

    FJT Logistics ships ocean cruising trimaran from Vietnam to New Zealand

    FJT Logistics, a Pangea member in New Zealand, has shipped a brand-new ocean cruising trimaran constructed from light weight carbon fibre in Cat Lai, Vietnam to Auckland, New Zealand. The Trimaran departed from Tan Cang – Cat Lai port, near Ho Chi Minh city, which is the biggest and most modern container port in Vietnam.

    The Trimaran was secured with a special tailor-made wood support saddle and shrink-wrapped for protection against damages during the whole journey. The packed Trimaran measured 18m long, 4.8m wide and 5.33m high, with a total weight of 10,000kg.

    The boat was stowed under deck on a platform of 8 40’ Flat Racks and departed on 25th July. It was shipped from Vietnam via Kaohsiung Port in Taiwan and finally arrived at Auckland on board M/V OOCL Savannah on 18th August.

    Once the Trimaran arrived to Auckland, FJT Logistics coordinated the lifting and discharging operations as well as the delivery with a low bed truck to Silo Park boat yard, where the boat will be assembled and rigged. After sea trials are completed the ultimate Trimaran will begin cruising in the ocean.

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  • Spark profit grows 13% in FY17

    Spark profit grows 13% in FY17

    New Zealand’s Spark has reported a 13% increase in net profit for the financial year ended in June as a result of one-off gains and improved mobile performance.

    Net profit grew to NZ$418 million ($305.7 million), with revenue increasing 3.3% to NZ$3.61 billion. Mobile revenue grew 5.6% due to a 4.1% increase in high margin service revenue and a 4.3% growth in total connections.

    Spark also increased its wireless broadband subscriber base by nearly 17% to 84,000, while the company increased its fiber broadband subscriber base by nearly 74% to 172,000.

    The company has to date migrated more than a third of its customers off its legacy copper network and on to wireless broadband as well as fiber services via the state-led Ultrafast Broadband national fiber network project.

    Fixed voice and managed data revenues meanwhile fell 12% to NZ$104 million due to ongoing substitution. Part of this substitution involves the migration of 11,000 voice only connections on Spark’s VoLTE service.

    For the current year, Spark is anticipating a 0-2% increase in both revenue and ebitda, and a slightly lower capex spend of NZ$410 million.

    The operator said it plans to increase its emphasis on wireless services and investment, and to develop its multi-brand strategy to better serve the low end of the market.

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  • Online spending eases in June

    Online spending eases in June

    The growth rate for New Zealanders’ total online retail shopping eased back slightly in June, but spending was still up 10 per cent compared to June last year.

    According to the latest BNZ and Marketview monthly report on New Zealand’s online retail sales, purchases from offshore online retailers accounted for 44.5 per cent of the month’s online spending, and spending at these retailers was up 13 per cent on June 2016.

    A surge in spending on Computers and Electronics drove half of the increase.

    Clothing had a quieter month than usual, with purchases from offshore online retailers only up  per cent on June last year.

    Spending at local online retailers was up 9 per cent on June last year.

    “While slower than the double-digit growth rates we’ve generally been seeing since 2016, this level of growth is still more than double that of local bricks-and-mortar stores, which were only up 4 per cent on June last year,” said Gary Baker, director, institutional research, Bank of New Zealand.

    Food store-types drove approximately half of the growth at local online sites (June 2017 vs June 2016).

    Clothing purchases were also strong at local online merchants, up 16 per cent on last June.

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  • Flight Centre buys two New Zealand travel firms

    Flight Centre buys two New Zealand travel firms

    ASX-listed Flight Centre Travel Group will buy two local travel firms for an undisclosed sum, expanding its footprint in New Zealand and making it one of the country’s biggest travel management groups.

    The Brisbane-based company on Monday said it had agreed to buy Travel Managers Group (TMG) and Executive Travel Group (ETG), without providing details of the transactions, making New Zealand the Australian firm’s fifth biggest business globally.

    The two businesses will add $3 million of annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, and Flight Centre said their addition will boost the New Zealand business to almost $1.5 billion in annual sales in the 2018 financial year.

    “ETG will enhance our already strong corporate travel offering in New Zealand and will give the business additional scale and expertise,” Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said in a statement to the ASX.

    TMG provides systems and support to a network of 180 travel brokers and operates a 22-shop franchise network including 12 TravelSmart shops and 10 other non-branded stores, while ETG is New Zealand’s biggest independent corporate travel manager.

    Former Flight Centre staffer Kevin Weston co-owns ETG, which was set up in 1978 and he and business partner Nicola Jamieson bought a 40 per cent stake in TMG in 2014.

    Weston, Jamieson and TMG shareholder David Wallace will keep running the two businesses, and report to Flight Centre New Zealand managing director David Coombes.

    Flight Centre will use company cash to pay for the acquisitions, which are expected to settle in the first quarter of the 2018 financial year. No price was disclosed, although Flight Centre said they were in line with normal multiples. The ETG purchase includes extra payments if certain earnings targets are met.

    The ASX-listed company’s shares last traded at $A43.50 ($NZ46.33) and have jumped 39 per cent so far this year.

  • New Zealands’s ComCom to review $2b mobile market

    New Zealands’s ComCom to review $2b mobile market

    New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has agreed to launch a review of the nation’s NZ$2.7 billion ($2 billion) mobile market in the coming year.

    The competition regulator has been asked by New Zealand telecommunications commissioner Simon Bridges to evaluate why there are relatively few MVNOs in the market.

    Bridges has encouraged the regulator to investigate whether competition in New Zealand’s mobile sector is working effectively.

    According to the report, the commission is currently considering the scope of the review, which will be determined in consultation with operators.

    While New Zealand has three mobile operators – Spark, Vodafone New Zealand and 2degrees – MVNOs form a less important part of the mobile ecosystem than in other markets, Bridges argued.

    But mobile operators have questioned the need for a review, stating that competition is already working effectively.

    The commission already conducts annual benchmarking of prices and services in the mobile market against international averages.

    The most recent report found that prices for bundled voice, SMS and data packages are below the average from other OECD countries, but data-only offerings are comparably expensive.

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  • H&M continues New Zealand expansion

    H&M continues New Zealand expansion

    Swedish fast fashion chain, Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), has confirmed its second store in New Zealand will open on September 9.

    Located at The Crossing in Christchurch’s CBD, the new location follows the opening of H&M at Sylvia Park Shopping Centre in Auckland last October.

    Spanning 2535 square metres and set over two levels; the Christchurch store will house apparel, underwear and accessories for men, women, kids and baby, as well as being the first H&M store in New Zealand to offer the Home concept.

    “We are also looking forward to introducing our H&M Home concept to our customers for the first time and cannot wait to see the response on opening day,” said Hans Andersson, Australia & New Zealand Country Manager for H&M.

    The global fashion chain entered the New Zealand market in 2016 with the opening of its first store in Sylvia Park Shopping Centre, Auckland, and will open its first store in Wellington at Queensgate Shopping Centre later this year.

    In its most recent results, H&M saw revenue including VAT increase by 7 per cent in local currencies during June compared to the same month the previous year.

    The total number of stores in the group amounted to 4,517 at the end of June compared to 4,095 the previous year.

    In its recent half-year results, sales, including VAT, grew by 9 per cent to SEK113.907 billion (US$13.4 billion) for its first half.

    Meanwhile, H&M said it will no longer publish monthly sales figures, instead opting to report its results on a quarterly basis and begin holding capital market days for company shareholders.

    Karl-Johan Persson, CEO of H&M, said that a month is “far too short a period over which to assess how sales are developing and in fact, a single month’s sales can actually be misleading, since calendar and weather effects – among other things – may significantly affect the outcome.”

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  • Hawaiki commissions cable landing station in New Zealand

    Hawaiki commissions cable landing station in New Zealand

    Hawaiki Submarine Cable, the company building a subsea cable between Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the mainland US, has commissioned the construction of the New Zealand cable landing station.

    New Zealand electrical engineering and construction company McKay has been commissioned to construct a landing station at Mangawhai Heads on New Zealand’s North Island.

    The multi-million dollar contract covers the complete civil, building and electrical work, including standby generation and uninterruptible power supply systems.

    “This contract represents a key step forward for Hawaiki system deployment in New Zealand,” Hawaiki CEO Remi Galasso said.

    “We are proud to participate to the economic development of the Northland region and are confident that McKay will deliver this critical piece of infrastructure in the most efficient and timely manner.”

    The Hawaiki cable is scheduled to be ready for service by June next year. As well as the main route, the cable will have options to branch to several islands in the South Pacific, including Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and American Samoa.

    The cable will have a design capacity of 42Tbps, making it the highest cross-sectional capacity link between Australia, New Zealand and the US.

    In May, Hawaiki announced that manufacturing of the 14,000km cable is nearing completion.

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