Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Kookmin Bank cut its floating rate from 6.20% to 6.00% today.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
WBS cut TD rates for 6 mths but raised them for 9 mth and 1 year terms. NZCU Auckland cut all rates from 3 months to 3 years.
DOWN, UP, "FINELY BALANCED"
There were market swings in favour of renters in Christchurch, while in Wellington landlords are the winners with a sudden jump. In Auckland it is finely balanced, according to Trade Me Property.
HEARTLAND RENEWS HARMONEY DEAL, SEES ACQUISITION OPPORTUNITIES
Heartland Bank has posted a 9% rise in interim net profit after tax to $25.6 million, and reiterated its full-year forecast for profit of between $51 million and $55 million. The bank says it grew motor vehicle lending by $30 million and reverse mortgages by $9 million in NZ, and A$18 million in Australia. It lifted lending through Harmoney by just $1.7 million to $34.5 million while negotiations over its facility with the P2P lender took place. These have concluded and Heartland now has another $35 million of lending capacity with Harmoney. Meanwhile, the bank said its direct exposure to dairy farmers is 8% of its total lending with an average LVR of 59%, and current market conditions present "greater opportunity" for acquisitions.
TRUSTED ADVISER FACES THEFT CHARGES
Jonathan Graham West (60) appeared in the Tauranga District Court yesterday to face charges laid by the Serious Fraud Office. West faces five Crimes Act charges of theft by person in a special relationship for his conduct as a director of The Investment Centre Limited and Matrix Futures Limited, which he operated between 1994 and 2013. The alleged offending involves about $1.4 million. The SFO Director said, “Even though Mr West had been given some authority to invest on behalf of clients, our investigation alleges he stepped outside those parameters and that misuse of client money is the basis of the allegations in this case. Unfortunately, given his previous sound advice and results, we believe Mr West’s victims had very little reason not to trust him.”
MORE ECONOMIC GROWTH, LESS ENERGY
The partially floated SOE power companies are continuing to meet their listing guidance, which probably surprises many critics. It is interesting how the heat has gone right out of the 'SOE float' debate now that most voters realise these are still companies majority owned and therefore controlled by the Government. The latest to report is Mighty River Power and their report shows that electricity demand for the whole of the country is up +1.4%. Given real GDP is up about +3%, energy intensity (efficiency) continues to improve. Per capita, it is improving even faster.
STILL WATCHING, WAITING
We have been monitoring dairy farm listings weekly in the major dairy regions since mid-August, looking for signs of heightened sales activity. So far, not much to report. We don't have a full year's data yet so seasonality is still an issue for what we have. It is only in Northland that we saw any sharp run-up in 'for sales'. But even that has settled back to a more normal level since December however.
AUCKLAND ON TOP
Auckland has maintained its position as the world’s third most liveable city in the 2016 Mercer Quality of Living survey, and is the highest ranked city in the Asia-Pacific region. (Most Aucklanders know this.) Mercer ranks Auckland third again behind Vienna and Zurich. The highest ranking Asia-Pacific cities after Auckland are Sydney at 10, Wellington at 12, Melbourne at 15 and Perth at 21.
UPDATE: NEW PLYMOUTH SELLS TASMANIAN DAIRY FARMS
A private Chinese company, Moon Lake Investments has been given the green light by the Australian federal government to buy Australia’s biggest dairy farming business, Tasmania’s Van Diemen’s Land Company from the New Plymouth District Council for AU$280 mln.
WHOLESALE RATES INCH DOWN
NZ swap rates are lower today by just -1 bp all at the long end. That flattens the curve. The 90-day bank bill rate is back up to 2.60%, a +1 bp rise.
NZ DOLLAR RANGES
The Kiwi dollar gained a little last night but most of that has leaked away today and we are back in the range. It is now at 66.9 USc, and at 92.7 AUc although the TWI-5 is now at 71.5 on the back of a weaker euro. Check our real-time charts here.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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