Page 8 - HW Sept 2021

hard news
Acme says on yer
bike with Tajima
Acme Supplies is running a cool Tajima end user promotion over the month of October.
Anyone who purchases a Tajima branded item can enter the draw to win a Kawasaki Ninja 650 LAMs motorcycle.
There will also be secondary prizes of Tajima gift packs worth around $350.
To enter, end-users must present proof of purchase via the Acme website.
This promotion will be supported by advertising as well as on social media, plus there is a range of digital assets and in-store POS available, from life- size cut-outs of the motorbike to shelf wobblers.
Contact Chris Wright at Acme to get involved.
chris.wright@acme.co.nz
Xero founder backs
local ERP provider
With clients including ITM and BuildLink members, local Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) provider eAccounts Global has attracted investment from
a famous name to help fund the next phase of its growth.
Indeed, Xero co-founder Hamish Edwards (photo above) has not only taken a 19% shareholding in the growing tech firm but is also taking on an advisory role to the eAccounts Global Board.
Hamish Edwards says: “There is currently a big hole in the market where SMEs have outgrown Xero and need to move on to a full ERP system, but do not want to suffer the massive cost of the existing options. eAccounts Global fits as the natural step up from Xero for growing SMEs.
“Over the next phase eAccounts Global will evolve the product into a multi-layer user experience that we now expect
from a Web 2.0 business. We will grow the team by recruiting the next group
of high achievers that will help to grow the reach and delivery of the software to thousands of SMEs.”
www.eaccountsglobal.com
Is a “stronger for longer” outlook still valid?
THE OUTLOOK FOR New Zealand was “stronger for longer” as Fletcher Building revealed its latest year-end numbers mid last month, just as we went into the latest lockdown.
Fletcher Building’s highly anticipated year-end result for FY2021 was driven by a strong NZ residential sector (48% of the overall top line), albeit modified by softer Australian commercial and civil markets. Still, the overall FY2021 figures read very well with overall revenues of $8.1 billion, up from $7.3 billion in FY2020, and an NPAT of $305 million, compared to a loss of $196 million in FY2020.
By division, the tale of the tape was as follows (FY2021 Gross Revenues / EBIT with changes on FY2020 in brackets):
• Australia$2.8b(-3.6%)/
$103m (+212%)
• Distribution $1.7b (+21.4%) / $127m
(+49%)
• Construction $1.5b (+15.4%) /
$31m (-79%)
• Building Products $1.4b (+16.7%) /
$197m (+126%)
• Concrete $849m (+14.7%) / $113m
(+52.7%)
• Residential & Development $734m
(+57.5%) / $154m (+137%)
Despite a clear caveat about the potential impact of the pandemic on activities, Chief Executive Ross Taylor’s overall outlook was as follows: “As we look ahead, we believe that the economic trends in our key markets remain supportive for further growth.
“In New Zealand, the activity pipeline continues to look ‘stronger for longer,’ especially in the residential sector.
“With ongoing supply chain and
labour constraints having the effect
of smoothing the recent sharp rises in building consents over a longer period, this is likely to mean an extended period of solid building activity through FY22 and beyond.
“In Australia, the residential outlook also remains resilient, particularly across detached housing and renovations, while the apartments, commercial and key civil sectors are likely to stabilise at current levels.”
Ironically, Fletcher Building’s announcement took place on the first day of a new Level 4 lockdown.
Will the supply shortages created by the recent Auckland lockdown affect this outlook?
According to the NZIER in late August: “The discovery of a COVID- 19 community outbreak on the 17th of August brought a halt to the robust recovery that had been taking place in New Zealand.
“With most of New Zealand sent home under Alert Level 4, economic activity has again slowed sharply.”
To the positive, NZIER Principal Economist Christina Leung says: “The latest outbreak and containment measures will slow the New Zealand economy in the near term.
“However, the events of the past year have shown us that the New Zealand economy is resilient and responsive to fiscal and monetary policy stimulus.
“The quicker community transmission is contained, and New Zealand moves down the alert levels, the shorter this sharp shock to the economy will be.”
6 NZHJ | SEPTEMBER 2021
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