Waikato dryer sold
An independent milk spray dryer in Hamilton, destined for liquidation, has been bought by a South Auckland goat milk processor.
Companies in the Waikato Innovation Park, most of them farming-related, are reporting healthy financial growth, the park operator says.
A recent survey of 34 tenant companies is said to have shown the respondents’ collective turnover is up 18% from one year ago. The park says 79% of firms surveyed reported some financial growth, averaging 33%.
Thirty-three of the 34 park companies who responded to the annual survey collectively reported gross turnover of $188 million. Last year it was $160 m.
“Eleven of our companies have turnover greater than $3 million – one more than reported reaching this level last year,” says the park chief executive, Stuart Gordon. “56% have turnover between $250,000 and $3 million, up from 48% last year. Only three of our companies have turnover of less than $250,000, which is an 8% drop from last year’s survey results.
“The companies… are doing well. Revenues are growing [generally]… with the same number or fewer staff.”
In January 2013, surveyed companies employed 1213 staff. Now they employ 1183 staff, 421 of them working at the park. 60% have fewer than 10 full time employees, down from 62% one year ago.
“Finding the right staff is difficult for many of our companies: 1:5 companies (21%) identify staff recruitment as a major challenge,” says Gordon.
While the Waikato Innovation Park companies are growing their revenues, slightly less of that turnover is reportedly coming from exports. Seventy-nine percent of the survey respondents are actively exporting, which is down slightly from 83% this same time last year.
“Of those companies exporting, the United States has gained ground as a trading destination. Fifteen percent of our exporters are doing business in the States, which is up from 8% last year,” says Gordon.
“Surprisingly, China now only represents 6% of our exporters’ total markets, which is down from 9% last year.”
Twenty-three percent of Innovation Park exporters trade with Australia, which has grown from 14% one year
ago. Europe has also grown from 19% to 25%.
“A delightful surprise in the results was that over 75% of respondents are actively engaged in research and development of new products or services. This is up significantly from 58% just one year ago,” says Gordon.
Federated Farmers claims that the Otago Regional Council is charging ahead unnecessarily with piling more regulation on rural communities.
Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.
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