Oz companies look to boost NZ stakes

Australian businesses are planning to increase their investments in New Zealand over the next six months, according to research from banking consultancy East and Partners.

New Zealand has continuing appeal for Australia's largest companies, with over two-thirds of respondents to an East and Partners survey planning to invest or increase their investments directly during the next six months.

About 70 per cent of Australia's top 500 businesses, with turnovers above A$530 million ($689 million), interviewed as part of East's bi-monthly business banking index research programme, said they were "definitely" going to or "likely" to invest or increase investment in the New Zealand markets in the coming six months.

The survey showed 60 per cent of businesses with turnover between A$20 million and $540 million shared their sentiment.

Most of the planned investment was coming out of New South Wales and Queensland companies and was spread across most industry sectors, East and Partners said.

Victoria and Western Australia-based business are proportionately the least active transtasman investors.

Much of the planned increase in business investment appeared to be driven by the relative strength of the Australian dollar, with many companies noting their forward views of the Australian/New Zealand dollar exchange rate as the final "trigger" for increasing their near-term investment, East and partners principal analyst Paul Dowling said.

"These plans clearly reinforce that New Zealand remains a critical market for large Australian businesses," Dowling said.