What executives expect in 2024

Executives are feeling more optimistic as the year comes to a close but they’re still preparing for a difficult economy and global market in 2024.

“We haven’t seen that recovery coming from the Chinese market that we would have hoped for,” Silver Fern Farms chief executive Simon Limmer told Markets with Madison at the Deloitte Top 200 Awards this week.

While the election result had spurred commercial hopes, the reality was still a bit brutal.

“There’s a bit more optimism,” Deloitte New Zealand chief executive Mike Horne said.

“But, for me, I think there’s a degree of caution, there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the global markets.”

Inflation and interest rates were top of mind, but hadn’t impacted earnings for big business locally as much as some feared.

“The bigger corporates are probably doing better and the overall earnings season is not a disaster,” Goodman Property deputy chairman David Gibson told Markets with Madison.

But they were still holding back on activity, although that may change in the new year according to Jarden’s co-head of investment banking, Silvana Schenone.

“I think some businesses will have to raise capital.

“I think some businesses are actually going to make decisions that may not be easy, but they have to make them.”

Businesses were adopting technological transformation too, with more moving to cloud storage and making moves with artificial intelligence.

Amazon Web Services had signed deals with One NZ (formerly Vodafone NZ), Vector and Television New Zealand, its country manager Tiffany Bloomquist said.

“AWS is built for times like these where companies really need to think through choices they’re making in technology and how they cost optimise for the future.”

2 Degrees chief business officer Andrew Fairgray is excited about AI’s ability to boost productivity.

“We’re seeing a lot of upside in how we can use it to take away basic mundane processes to automate our business and make sure we can have people focusing on new and exciting things as we move forward.”

Watch what all of these executives and more have to say about the challenging year that was and how investors can prepare for it, in today’s episode of Markets with Madison above.

Get investment insights from the experts on Markets with Madison every Monday and Friday on the NZ Herald.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this programme is of a general nature, and is not intended to be personalised financial advice. We encourage you to seek appropriate advice from a qualified professional to suit your individual circumstances.

Madison Reidy is the host of New Zealand’s only financial markets show Markets with Madison. She joined the Herald in 2022 after working in investment, and has covered business and economics for television and radio broadcasters.