Priority One chief executive Andrew Coker is encouraged by data that shows Bay of Plenty is New Zealand's strongest-growing region.
Priority One chief executive Andrew Coker is encouraged by data that shows Bay of Plenty is New Zealand's strongest-growing region.
The Bay of Plenty has been revealed as New Zealand's strongest-growing region for the past 12 months - but spending and confidence are still down.
The region's economy expanded 4.8 per cent from a year earlier, coming out on top of Canterbury (4.4 per cent), Auckland (4.3 per cent) and Southland (4 per cent). Nationally, annual growth was 3.5 per cent.
The Bay came ahead of the national average increase in most key growth areas in ANZ's Regional Trends report, including employment, internet job ads, house sales, section sales, rural real estate sales, new car registrations and commercial building permits.
However, despite the gains in regional activity and a boost in consumer confidence making the Bay the most optimistic in the country, business confidence was down and retail sales and paymark transactions were both below the national average increase.
Priority One chief executive Andrew Coker said it was encouraging to see how well the region had done against the rest of the country.
Despite the figures covering the whole Bay of Plenty region, including Rotorua and Whakatane, Mr Coker believed a lot of the growth activity was happening in the Western Bay area.
The kiwifruit industry had shown a positive bounce back from Psa and construction was picking up, he said.
An employment increase of 12.8 per cent was very encouraging for local business and a reflection of business confidence, he said.
"I'm surprised to see the business confidence down because you don't employ people if business isn't going well," he said.
A slower increase in retail might have pulled down business confidence and could be a reflection of the sector struggling with the ever-increasing online market, he said.
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said it was "quite significant" for the Bay of Plenty to be leading the way.
"It's quite significant actually and obviously very important and hopefully, off the back of that, more jobs are created and we get an increase in wages."
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby.
Commercial building permits saw the biggest increase, up 34.2 per cent in March compared to the same time last year, followed by house sales up 28.6 per cent and internet job ads up 19 per cent.
An increase in commercial building was good for job creation, which linked in well with council projects such as the new tertiary campus and the marine precinct, Mr Crosby said.
The goal was to maintain that leading economic growth in New Zealand over the next few years, he said.
Eves and Bayleys Real Estate chief executive Ross Stanway said a healthy commercial building sector was important because it signalled growth in the commercial sector.
The growth would mean more jobs, bringing more people and businesses to the region, he said.
"I think it also confirms what's been reported in the past 12 months," he said.
Highest returns for Green kiwifruit
Zespri has announced its highest-ever Green kiwifruit average per hectare returns in its final results for the 2014-2015 season, and says the industry is back on track for strong growth.
Total fruit and service payment was up 17 per cent on the previous year to $939 million, while global sales reached $1.568 billion, up 16 per cent on 2013/14. Export earnings increased 18 per cent to $1.086 billion compared to 2013/14.
"These strong headline results were achieved because of the effort of growers, the post-harvest sector and the Zespri team onshore and in the markets," said Zespri chairman Peter McBride, who described the results as extraordinary.
Zespri sold 69 million trays of Green kiwifruit at the highest-ever average per hectare return for the industry of $53,884 and a strong average per tray return of $6.01.
However, Gold returns fell to $73,890 per hectare and $9.80 per tray, from $90,813 and $12.91 the previous season, owing in part to the rebound in Gold production.
Total Gold supply increased from 11.1 million trays in 2013/14 to 18.6 million trays in 2014/15. The lower-per-hectare return reflected average industry yields of the new Gold3 were still below potential following the recovery from Psa.
Mr McBride attributed the record Green returns to sales performance, productivity increases, and the shortage of Chilean kiwifruit in the market, following severe frosts in Chile.
Zespri chief executive Lain Jager said the company would remain focused on delivering strong returns to growers and shareholders.
Zespri's net profit after tax for 2014-2015 was $34.6 million, which included a one-off gain of $13.1 million for Gold licence revenue deferred from prior seasons. The board announced a final dividend of 7c per share, taking the full-year dividend to 12c per share, up from 11c in 2013/14.
