PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for May 29, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Media Outreach

SHENZHEN, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 May 2026 – The 20th Shenzhen International Financial Expo, themed “AI ERA: SYNERGISTIC DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING AND SERVICE INDUSTRIES,” is being held from May 27 to 29, 2026, at the Futian Convention and Exhibition Center in Shenzhen. During the expo, the Phoenix Financial Forum for the Greater Bay Area Financial Summit was successfully convened on May 27.

Hosted by Phoenix TV and co-organized by Phoenix New Media and Phoenix Show, the summit was rooted in Shenzhen’s role as a core hub of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and a center of financial innovation. Government officials, business leaders, and financial experts gathered to assess evolving global dynamics and explore new opportunities for development.

At the opening ceremony, keynote speeches and panel discussions focused on hot topics including the deep integration of finance with technology, industry, and cross-border collaboration.

Luo Huanghao, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Vice Mayor of the Shenzhen Municipal Government, stated in his opening remarks that Shenzhen’s financial sector should capitalize on its strengths in technological innovation, industrial development, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong connectivity, while adhering to the development logic of deep integration between industry and finance. He emphasized that finance must fundamentally serve the real economy by strengthening industrial foundations, enhancing financial capacity, expanding opening-up, safeguarding financial security, and promoting the mutual advancement of finance and the real economy, thereby accelerating the development of Shenzhen into a globally influential industrial finance center.

Xu Wei, Chairman and CEO of Phoenix TV, noted in his speech that holding the forum alongside the Financial Expo represented not only platform innovation but also a resonance of values, demonstrating Phoenix TV’s comprehensive upgrade in serving the Greater Bay Area’s international communication capabilities. “The collaboration between the forum and the Financial Expo vividly reflects the Greater Bay Area’s momentum toward integrated cooperation,” Xu said. “It also shows that the vitality of the Greater Bay Area lies not only in geographic proximity and industrial connectivity, but also in the mutual empowerment and coordinated integration of technology, talent, information, and rules.”

Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the HKSAR Government, pointed out in his speech that the deep integration of Hong Kong’s international financial capabilities with Shenzhen’s technological innovation has already enabled 160 Shenzhen enterprises, including Tencent and BYD, to list in Hong Kong. “This deep integration of ‘finance + technology’ has not only promoted the high-quality development of the financial industries in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, but also helped the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area become one of the world’s most dynamic fintech hubs,” he said.

Zhang Weizhong, Chairman of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, remarked that technology is redefining the value logic of capital, while capital is reshaping the growth path of technology. He stressed that financial innovation is playing an increasingly important role and that China must absorb the core principles of global “innovation collaboration” while building a development system suited to local industries and national conditions.

During the keynote speech session, Wang Suwang, Chairman of SDIC Securities Co., Ltd.; Zheng Jun, CTO of Financial Account Dept, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.; Jia Jiaya, Chair Professor and Director of Von Neumann Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Founder and Chairman, SmartMore Corporation Limited; and Ginger Cheng, Chief Executive Officer, DBS Bank (China) Limited, shared forward-looking insights and practical experiences on topics such as digital finance development, industrial digital transformation, intelligent technology deployment, and innovation in foreign-funded financial services.

Wang Suwang stated that securities firms should serve as important discoverers of value growth by evaluating technology enterprises from a full life-cycle perspective and recognizing their long-term value through asset securitization.

Using Huawei’s proprietary computing ecosystem as an example, Zheng Jun introduced the large-scale application prospects of AI agents in the financial sector. He noted that AI has moved beyond experimental innovation and entered a stage of “returning to business fundamentals,” where scalable deployment and real value creation are becoming possible.

Jia Jiaya outlined a vision in which the integration of artificial intelligence and robotics will drive the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industries. He predicted that industrial intelligent agents would bring dramatic changes to the industrial sector over the next five to ten years.

Ginger Cheng emphasized that cross-border finance has become an unavoidable challenge for enterprises pursuing globalization, adding that foreign banks possess unique network advantages in supporting Chinese companies’ overseas expansion.

The afternoon roundtable discussions centered on three core themes in finance, bringing together leading experts for in-depth dialogue and exchanges of ideas.

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the boundaries of financial services and value creation, the roundtable titled “AI Empowering Technology Finance — New Scenarios, New Paradigms” featured a keynote speech by Liu Xiaochun, Vice President, Shanghai Advanced Institute for Financial Research. He analyzed the compliance boundaries and transformation pathways for AI implementation in finance, stressing that financial innovation must always preserve the essential nature of finance rather than focusing solely on technology.

During the “Industrial Chain Finance: Breaking Boundaries Through Innovation and Capital Empowerment” roundtable, Sean Randolph, Senior Director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute in San Francisco, shared mature experiences from internationally advanced bay areas via video speech. He observed that AI is rapidly being adopted across global financial institutions and predicted that AI literacy and capabilities will become fundamental factors influencing recruitment, employment, and corporate competitiveness in the future.

As a pioneer in cross-border financial innovation, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continues to achieve breakthroughs in areas such as cross-border payments, wealth management, investment and financing connectivity, and offshore finance.

At the “Cross-Border Finance: From the Greater Bay Area to the World” roundtable, Larry Li, Founder and Managing Partner of Amino Capital, shared his views on investment logic and entrepreneurial opportunities in the AI era. He argued that entrepreneurs can seize opportunities in traditional industries that have yet to adopt digital technologies and transform them into platform-based businesses.

Renowned economist Hong Hao called for a rational perspective on market bubbles. He remarked that financial markets have always relied on bubbles to create life-changing opportunities, and that social progress itself is often driven by humanity’s aspirations and imagination.

At the conclusion of the summit, Victor Gao, Deputy Director of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG)‌, and noted economist Fu Peng delivered a closing dialogue, offering in-depth analysis of new global economic trends and key issues in capital markets.

Hashtag: #PhoenixTV

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

MIL OSI

Source: New Zealand Government

Budget 2026 introduces a new prudential levy on banks, non‑bank deposit takers, insurers, and other financial market participants to help cover the costs of services provided by the Reserve Bank, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.

“This mirrors the approach taken by the Financial Markets Authority and the Commerce Commission which fund much of their activity through levies on financial market participants. 

“It is also consistent with international practice in countries like Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. 

“This levy will ensure the cost of regulation and supervision is borne by financial market players rather than taxpayers.

“The prudential levy is estimated to recover around $209 million over the next four years. The levy will be paid to the Reserve Bank, with the revenue returned to the Government through an increased dividend. 

“In a more unstable world, it’s important we strengthen the financial system, so it keeps working for Kiwis when times get tough. 

“The Reserve Bank will commence consultation with the sector following the Budget.  Cabinet is aiming to make decisions early 2027 with a view to the levy being introduced mid-2027.”

Notes to editors: 

New Zealand’s financial services industry is large and profitable.
The revenue from the new levy will be less than 1 per cent of the total profits of the big four banks alone.
The Reserve Bank’s prudential responsibilities include:

Licensing entities to operate in New Zealand.
Developing and issuing prudential requirements imposed on regulated entities.
Monitoring the financial health of regulated entities and supervising them to ensure compliance with prudential requirements.
Taking enforcement action against entities that breach their requirements.
Crisis management and resolution of entities in financial distress.

The levy will apply to deposit takers, insurers and financial market infrastructure providers. 

Deposit Takers: There are currently 27 registered banks and 14 licensed non-bank deposit takers in New Zealand
Insurers: There are currently 81 licensed insurers in New Zealand, operating across the general, life, and health insurance markets. 
Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs): There are currently five designated FMIs, which arrange and provide for the clearing, settlement and recording of financial transactions like payments, securities, and derivatives.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/financial-industry-to-bear-the-cost-for-regulation/

Source: Media Outreach

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 May 2026 – Skyro, a digital-first consumer finance platform, disbursed PHP 15.8 billion (over $280 million) and doubled the number of loans issued in the Philippines in 2025. This represents a 2.6-fold increase in loan disbursements year-on-year and places the company among the fastest-growing consumer lenders in the country.

Over the two-year period from 2023 to 2025, cumulative growth reached approximately 5.9-fold in number loans issuedand 8.7-fold in disbursement value. Skyro’s loan portfolio includes POS (point-of-sale) installment loans, cash loans, and сredit lines.

Skyro co-founder, Nasim Aliev:

“We are proud to deliver multiple-fold growth in our loan portfolio, significantly outpacing the overall expansion of consumer lending in the Philippines. Since launching in 2022, Skyro has focused on offering a simple, convenient and mobile-first solution at the point of sale, building a business that is clearly in strong demand. Our core mission is to empower people by providing accessible financing. The priority remains delivering innovative, AI-powered digital finance tools that enhance the customer experience.”

Skyro co-founder, Arsen Liametov:

“We’ve been tripling our revenue every year since 2022. Our success in unsecured lending in the Philippines provides a strong foundation for expansion into additional fintech products and new jurisdictions across developing markets. Backed by Skyro’s multinational team of over 600 fintech professionals with experience across more than 20 markets, we bring a broad perspective that strengthens our ability to scale our business model internationally.”

Over the past year, Skyro’s customer base doubled and remains on a strong upward growth trajectory. At the same time, its loan portfolio was significantly de-risked, primarily dueto Skyro’s AI-driven scoring system. The number of registered users on the Skyro platform reached 6.3 million at the end of 2025. The average loan size grew by nearly 30% year-on-year, driven by a shift toward larger-ticket products.

Skyro’s merchant partner network expanded significantly in 2025, with particularly strong growth in the online channel. The number of online partners grew by 405%, reflecting an active push into e-commerce POS lending. The offline network added 631 new merchant locations, growing by 50%. By the end of 2025, Skyro had partnered with more than 2,000 merchants, including those operating nearly 9,000 brick-and-mortar stores.

Hashtag: #Skyro

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Green Party

Mr Speaker, the Greens want every New Zealander to feel proud of our country. 

Not just for our history; for granting women the vote, standing against the United States for a nuclear free Pacific and splitting the atom. 

We want New Zealanders to feel proud of the country they live in today. 

We want New Zealanders to be able to swim in their rivers.  

To be able to grow food in healthy soil.  

To catch abundant fish from the ocean to feed their families.  

To be able to afford their groceries.  

To be housed. To heat their homes.  

To have the right to a good education and secure job.  

To innovate. To create. To have fun. 

We want New Zealanders to be happy, healthy and safe. Unified. 

But this Government is telling us “computer says no”. 

Today, they have released a Budget that tells us that they have no hope, no plan, no ambition and no vision for our country.  

Unless, of course, that hope, plan, ambition and vision is just what we see here: allowing corporations to profit handsomely off the misery of regular New Zealanders. Subsidising and supporting the very fossil fuels that Treasury’s BEFU tells us are the major vulnerability in our economy. 

This isn’t a cost-of-living crisis. It is a cost of greed crisis. 

Christopher Luxon, Nicola Willis, aren’t you sick of pretending? 

Pretending that there is no money? 

‘Cause the National Party can find money when it wants to. 

And I’m not just talking about their rich-lister donations. 

In the past two years, they’ve found billions in their budgets in tax cuts for landlords, tobacco companies and the wealthy and sorted. 

There’s been billions for fossil fuel production. 

Billions and billions to meet Trump’s request to spend up large on new military equipment. 

So they’ve taken billions and billions from the poorest New Zealanders, cutting access for the homeless to emergency housing and cutting access to benefits while thousands of New Zealanders are being pushed out of their jobs by this same Government to the highest number since 1994 – the year that I was born.  

And the books today show us that unemployment will in fact be higher in the next few years as a result of the decisions that this Government was just clapping for than were forecast in December. That means another 6,500 New Zealanders will lose their jobs thanks to the decisions of Christopher Luxon.  

These books also show us that Christopher Luxon’s ‘responsible fiscal management’ has resulted in further downward revisions of GDP growth forecasts. Treasury today has also warned that his obsession with fossil fuels will raise costs for households and businesses, which can slow spending, investment, and the very growth that they love to grow about, ultimately reshaping the economy’s structure, and lowering our output and economic performance.  

It’s dressed up in a heck of a lot of fancy language, but today the Government is effectively choosing where our collective resources go, and who gets to be in charge. Who really gets to make decisions. 

And this week, Christopher Luxon has shown us – albeit kicking and screaming – into broad daylight, who he sees as his job to serve. 

We have seen laws stripping people’s right to hold big polluters accountable, originally drafted by the country’s largest climate polluters – Fonterra and Z Energy – were introduced by this Government with glee.  

The Greens have exposed that the Government is taking on one and a half billion dollars more in debt to try and quietly cover the tracks of their failed climate policies. 

This is why it’s so important to understand that every time this Government makes decisions to push more of our country’s wealth up to those at the top, they are also damaging our democracy.  

Fewer and fewer people get more and more money and more and more influence, while more and more people are left with scraps they’re told to fight over – and told, don’t look up. 

Let’s run through some important facts. 

Because despite this Government’s best efforts to starve our economy, New Zealanders are slugging away and working hard, and we’ve been lucky with global commodity prices, so our economy is growing in size. 

But more and more people are getting poorer and poorer. 

And the Government is cutting away investment in our basic, collectively owned and operated public services.  

So: our economy is growing, but regular people are getting poorer, and our Government is shrinking, while taking on more debt. 

So, where is New Zealanders’ money going? 

Well, last year, the 100 odd households on the NBR’s rich list increased their wealth by almost 8 billion dollars. In just one year. 

Supermarkets are making $1m a day in excess profit. Power companies’ net profits were $557 million in the second half of last year. Banks raked in profits of almost $7b in 2025. That’s $1,248 in profit for Australian banks for every single New Zealander. 

Our economy is worth $445 billion dollars. It’s bigger than it’s ever been. 

But our hospitals and schools and our nurses and our doctors and our teachers who staff them are struggling. Our firefighters are striking twice a week because the fire trucks meant to save lives are falling apart. 

Our public services don’t fail overnight. When we don’t invest properly in them, those services get slower, more stretched and further away for every year that passes. 

There is a word for that. Austerity. It’s how you break a country in slow motion. 

Luxon’s Government has boasted about new money for health and education. But once you count inflation, a growing and ageing population, and what it really costs to deliver these things, much of that ‘record investment’ is a cut in everything but name. 

This Government will do anything in order to avoid taxing the mega-rich. 

They’ll take school kids’ lunch money. They’ve made real terms cuts to our schools and our early childhood education – meaning higher fees for parents. They’ve cut $300,000 from programmes that help New Zealanders with energy hardship, when record numbers are struggling to pay their power bill.  They’ve raided millions of dollars from food banks, and taken away almost $700m from public housing tenants.  

I guess just some of us are entitled to our entitlements.  

Their decisions will close down sexual violence prevention services.  

Christopher Luxon promises growth means more money in our economy. And he is right about that. 

What he’s not being straight up about is how he knows that growth is not shared. 

He knows that under his economic rules, that wealth goes straight to the top. 

But maybe I’m being too generous. 

Maybe he truly still believes in trickle down economics, like some believe in the tooth fairy. 

Maybe he believes his own shtick about ‘hard choices’ as he entrenches an economy that’s been designated as a speculator’s tax haven by Australians. 

The same Australians from the same Australia where higher tax rates on those who can afford to pay mean there’s more Government revenue to invest in better public services and infrastructure. The same Australia that this Government is sending so many of our best and brightest to, because under this Government, New Zealanders are having a really hard time imagining a better tomorrow here at home. 

I know politics is hard. I know that changing your mind and doing something differently in this environment opens you up to all kinds of attacks that you’re u-turning, or backtracking, or whatever we want to call it. 

But I would like to think, if I was privileged enough to be sitting in those seats over there making the decisions about where our country’s collective resources are used, if I had spent two years making decisions that were hurting regular people, I would like to think that I would pause and re-evaluate. 

That I would listen. To the chanting of our emergency service workers on strike for the longest industrial action in a generation. To the cries of babies this Government knows are being born into unnecessary, entirely preventable poverty. To the New Zealanders down at the RSA who just want some leaders with a spine. 

Instead, this Government ploughs ahead with their economic doom loop. 

They’ve decided to mercilessly cut back on spending without any idea of how the market they worship would fill the gap. That shocked business confidence they said they cared about and private sector investment also contracted by 2%. 

They cancelled thousands of new state house builds, and hundreds of infrastructure projects, which meant the loss of 15,000 construction sector jobs.  

Each job lost isn’t just devastating for that person or just for their family. It’s devastating to their local community, and their local economy, and the small businesses where they bought a morning coffee, or went on a date, or did their home renos through. 

And what’s the Government’s response to the doom loop of their own creation? 

It’s not to stop and think, maybe this thing isn’t working. 

Because maybe, instead of a plan, they’re running on instinct. A well-documented, well-exercised National Party instinct to hand over our collective wealth and control to a few people at the top. 

Former National Governments sold off state housing, which now means we hand out billions to line the pockets of private landlords. 

Former National Governments sold off our state-owned power companies, despite an overwhelming referendum in opposition, and now we all pay for an energy system driven by profit at the expense of innovation and renewable generation. 

Former National Governments shut down and amalgamated Ministries and Departments, closing factories and putting a wrecking ball through the regions. 

This National Government is no different. 

New Zealanders deserve so much better. 

And the Greens have consistently shown that better is possible. 

If we dared to tax multi-multi-millionaires and billionaires so they contributed fairly to the country that helped them build that wealth, we wouldn’t have to rely on charity to get new ambulances on the road. 

We could use this big old economy democratically, to achieve the things that no one of us could achieve alone. Very few people have the individual wealth to build a hospital or refurbish old classrooms, but together, we have more wealth than we’ve ever had. 

We can create jobs. We can build the things we need. We can protect the natural environment we rely on for life on earth as we know it. Or are we going to keep pretending that megalomaniac billionaires are going to solve our problems? 

I actually agreed with the Prime Minister when two months ago, as the fossil fuel crisis was just hitting, he boldly said that hope is not a plan. 

However, at exactly that same time, his Minister of Energy was quietly cancelling the long-awaited Energy Plan.  

The fossil fuel crisis has put a spotlight on the ticking time bomb sitting at the centre of our economy. 

And while Luxon’s Government seems intent on finding new ways to lace this timebomb into the fabric of everything we do. The Government hopes and prays for new fossil fuel shipments, and every time one is confirmed, they hope to restart the countdown timer. 

But if the counter gets to zero, our entire country, our entire economy, grinds to a halt. 

It’s not sensible to spend all of our resources fixated on feeding the beast in hopes to just reset the clock. 

We need to defuse the time bomb. 

The next step is rewiring our economy and country around something that will not blow up in our faces. 

We don’t get affordable, secure energy from expensive fuels that need to be hauled in from the other side of the planet. 

We get it when we tap into the abundant water, wind and sun and the geothermal activity beneath our feet. We get it when we electrify everything. 

That’s what it means to build resilience. 

It’s what it means to insulate ourselves against imported inflation. 

It’s what it means to build our country. 

But it’s not just nation building. It’s common sense. 

It’s taking control over the things that we have control over. 

But this Government is giving up control. 

Not to regular New Zealanders –  

But to corporations, off-shore shareholders and the fewer and fewer people who are getting more and more of our resources. 

Funnily enough, if our country were actually the business Christopher Luxon seems to think it is, it would also be a failing business. 

In business, you don’t succeed by firing all of your staff, cutting off your sources of revenue and then begging rich out-of-towners to maybe pop over because they can avoid paying tax, closing your eyes to the crumbling infrastructure. 

If things aren’t going right, you get a new business plan. You find a new strategy. 

But a country is not a company, and a Prime Minister is not a CEO. 

Prime Minister, I’ve spent two years inviting you to come and walk the streets of Auckland Central, to meet the people, including the children, who your policies have made homeless. 

I invite you to go and stand in the middle of Bendigo in Central Otago, and tell New Zealanders with a straight face that you want to poison the local waterways and churn our pristine biodiversity into a mine to make a quick buck for an Australian mining company. 

I invite you to come sit with me with regular people at Mt Smart during a Warriors game, to meet the couple from Hamilton who sit next to me, who drive up every other week for the game, who tell me your Government has been a wrecking ball for small business because you’ve sucked all of the money out of customers’ pockets. 

Prime Minister, I invite you to go outside. 

To touch grass. 

To breathe the air. 

To look at New Zealanders you’re supposed to serve in the eye. 

Those things are real. Those things matter. 

And when your made-up economic rulebook is destroying those very real things, those silly rules have got to change. 

Mr Speaker, here’s the hardest truth. And it’s not for the theatre that is this place. It’s for the New Zealanders beyond these walls. 

No one is coming to save us. 

New Zealanders are going to have to do this ourselves. 

And on November 7th, New Zealanders can resign this Government to the history books. 

But we are not going to spontaneously end up with a government that is willing to take on the well-resourced lobbyists in the country, and to work actively in the interests of regular people. 

So we are going to need a new kind of coalition. 

I’m not talking about the boring, circular talk-back talk of which politician will negotiate with which. 

I’m talking about New Zealanders coming together with a common, intentional idea of who we are as a country, and where all of us want to go. 

Because when everything feels complicated and chaotic, I believe we can agree on some basic things. 

Every New Zealander is entitled to a safe home. A good education. Affordable food. A secure job. Reliable transport. Renewable energy. 

These are the non-negotiables that every New Zealander is entitled to. And they can be the building blocks to help us rebuild our country for all of us. 

These are the things that we should fight for not just for ourselves, not just for the people we know and love, but even for the people we don’t know, and even the people we don’t like. 

To anyone and everyone listening, I’m asking you not just to believe in the Greens. I’m asking New Zealanders to believe in themselves, to believe in each other, and to believe in the country we can build if we are willing to work together to make it a reality. 

And I’m asking NZers not just to believe. I’m asking you to act. 

Because if New Zealanders are feeling powerless right now, it’s kind of by intent. That is exactly the strategy and the plan of this Government. To have regular people switch off so that power and wealth get concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. But I promise New Zealanders, they will find their power when they go out there and they talk to other New Zealanders about these basic things we have in common that we are willing to fight for, for each other. 

New Zealanders can do more than vote this election. They can join the campaign to rebuild this country.  

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/chloe-swarbrick-budget-speech-2026/

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 May 2026 – Johnson Electric Holdings Limited (“Johnson Electric”), a global leader in electric motors and motion subsystems, today announced its results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2026.

Group sales for the 2025/26 financial year were US$3,650 million, an increase of 0.1% compared to the prior year. Net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 23% to US$202 million or 21.59 US cents per share on a fully diluted basis. Adjusted net profit, excluding the effects of non-cash foreign exchange rate movements, the impairment of intangible assets, restructuring charges, and adverse fair value movements in investments, declined by 13% to US$234 million.

Sales Performance

The Automotive Products Group (“APG”) achieved sales of US$3,054 million, which amounted to 84% of total Group sales. Excluding currency effects, APG’s sales decreased by 3%.

Global automotive industry production volumes increased slightly over the prior year, but growth remains lacklustre in most markets due to affordability concerns and the challenges faced by OEMs and suppliers in adjusting to geopolitical uncertainty, tariff pressures, and the shifting economics of battery electric vehicles that continue to be shaped by the level of government subsidies available to consumers.

APG’s sales are divided broadly equally across the three major geographic regions of demand, but performance over the past year reflected distinct variations in local market conditions, as well as APG’s own mix of OEM customers and the timing of new program launches.

In Asia, the division’s sales declined by 7% on a constant currency basis primarily due to the ongoing erosion in market share held by Sino-foreign joint venture OEM customers in China. APG has continued to win significant new business awards from Chinese domestic OEMs and their suppliers, which now account for the majority of its sales in China. However, the division’s historically large share among joint venture customers has acted as a drag on its recent sales performance that is taking time to reverse. The domestic passenger vehicle market in China itself experienced a sharp slowdown in sales in the first quarter of 2026 due to the phasing out of trade-in subsidies designed to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles.

APG’s sales to the Americas increased by 1% on a constant currency basis in a market that saw total light vehicle production volumes broadly flat. The predominant factor constraining new car sales in North America is cost of living concerns, with many low to middle income car buyers struggling to afford new vehicles that, on average, have increased in price by over 30% since 2020.

In Europe, APG’s sales decreased by 2% on a constant currency basis. The European auto market continues to experience sluggish consumer demand at the same time that OEMs are hampered by excess production capacity and the impact of shifting emissions regulations on their product model line-ups.

APG’s strategy in the context of the varied and unpredictable operating environment for component suppliers is, firstly, to focus on bringing to market innovative motion technologies that enable electrification, reduce emissions, and enhance passenger safety and comfort. Secondly, APG aims to offer its diverse base of customers an unrivalled total cost and value proposition that combines speed, scale, and reliability of production with an adaptable global operating footprint.

The Industry Products Group (“IPG”) achieved sales of US$596 million – an increase of 2% compared to the prior year on a constant currency basis. After three successive years of declining sales, this marks an important return to growth for the division. In more commoditized product application segments, new business development has been redirected towards the rapidly growing base of Chinese manufacturers who are capturing an increasing share of the global market for consumer and commercial hardware goods – particularly for low-priced, entry-level products. In parallel, IPG is focused on supplying motion subsystem solutions to more specialized, higher-growth segments, including humanoid robotics, warehouse automation, medical devices, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and liquid cooling applications.

Gross Margins and Operating Profitability

The Group’s gross profit of US$840 million, or 23.0% of sales, was essentially flat compared to the prior financial year. Slight increases in production staff costs, depreciation, and raw materials were offset by savings in other production overheads and direct labour.

Reported earnings before interest, tax and amortization (“EBITA”) amounted to US$258 million, a decrease of 22% compared to US$331 million achieved in the prior year. The decline was due to a combination of factors, including higher selling and administrative staff costs and other provisions, an impairment of intangible assets arising from a past acquisition, and reduced other income due to an adverse net change in the fair value of certain investments.

Net Profit and Financial Condition

Net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 23% to US$202 million or 21.59 US cents per share on a fully diluted basis. Adjusted net profit, excluding the effects of non-cash foreign exchange rate movements, the impairment of intangible assets, restructuring charges, and adverse fair value movements in investments, amounted to US$234 million compared to US$268 million in the prior year.

The Group’s overall financial condition remains robust with a total debt to capital ratio of 10%, an interest coverage ratio of 22 times, and year-end cash reserves of US$902 million.

Dividends

The Board considers it appropriate to recommend maintaining the final dividend of 44 HK cents (5.64 US cents) per share, which together with the interim dividend of 17 HK cents per share, represents a total dividend of 61 HK cents (7.82 US cents) per share.

Chairman’s Comments on the Annual Results and Outlook

Commenting on the annual results for the financial year 2025/26, Dr. Patrick Wang, Chairman and Chief Executive, said, “Operating conditions for global manufacturing businesses during the financial year 2025/26 remained challenging, with end-market demand in most regions subdued and geopolitical events and uncertainties placing upward pressure on input costs.”

Dr. Patrick Wang further commented: “In the face of these headwinds, Johnson Electric maintained its long-standing resilience with sales and gross profit margins both holding up comparatively well. The bottom-line result, however, was negatively impacted by the effects of higher overhead expenses on a flat sales base, adverse net changes in the fair value of investments, and a non-cash intangible assets impairment charge.”

Concerning the near-term financial outlook, Dr. Patrick Wang said: “The global economy demonstrated resilience over the past year, despite the protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the geopolitical shock of tariffs being imposed on US imports of goods from almost all countries. Looking ahead, the unstable and unpredictable conditions for trade and global manufacturing have been made even more precarious by the outbreak of war in the Middle East.”

“Johnson Electric has a long-standing track record in successfully navigating volatile global markets. In the near term, with geopolitical and macro-economic dynamics impossible to forecast with precision, management remains focused on cost control, managing the effects of inflation, and maintaining a prudent financial risk profile.”

“In parallel, however, we are also committed to invest in adapting and scaling our business model to meet strong underlying demand for our motion subsystem solutions in several high-growth end-markets and new product applications. Included among these are: thermal management systems for electric and hybrid vehicles that depend on a combination of water pumps, valves and actuators to support optimal vehicle cabin temperature, extend electric vehicle driving range, and contribute to longer battery life; solid oxide fuel cell power generation systems that are becoming established as an important source of low-emission, on-site electricity supply to AI data centres; and AI-enabled humanoid robots, which are widely viewed as one of the most significant industrial and commercial opportunities over the next ten to twenty years.”

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Johnson Electric and certain plans and objectives of the management of Johnson Electric.

Words such as “outlook”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believe”, “estimates”, “projects”, variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward looking statements. Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risk, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results or performance of Johnson Electric to be materially different from any future results or performance expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such forward looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Johnson Electric’s present and future business strategies and the political and economic environment in which Johnson Electric will operate in the future.

Note to Editors and Securities Analysts: The full text of the Annual Results announcement, includingfinancial statements, is available through the Investors section of company’s website at www.johnsonelectric.com

Hashtag: #JohnsonElectric

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: New Zealand Government

Budget 2026 is a responsible Budget that boosts funding for essential services and invests in the infrastructure New Zealand needs for the future without breaking the bank, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.

“At a time when many New Zealand families and businesses are still under pressure from higher living costs and global uncertainty, this Budget takes careful steps to support New Zealanders now while strengthening the economy for the years ahead.

“It will ensure New Zealanders can look forward to more jobs, higher incomes, stronger public services and a more affordable and secure country.

“Thanks to this Government’s careful management of the public finances, New Zealand is digging its way out of the post-Covid fiscal and economic hole. Balanced books are now in sight. 

“The Budget forecasts the economy to grow by an average of 2.7 per cent over the next four years, with unemployment falling from 5.5 to 4.3 per cent and wages continuing to rise faster than inflation. The Government’s books are forecast to return to surplus in 2028/29, a year earlier than previously forecast, with debt beginning to fall sooner as a share of the economy.

“Returning to surplus and reducing debt means more of taxpayers’ money can go towards the frontline services and infrastructure New Zealanders rely on, rather than servicing ever-growing interest costs. It also means the Government is able to deliver timely, temporary and targeted support to households most affected by rising fuel prices while continuing to invest in New Zealand’s future. 

“To build this future, this Budget invests in state highways, rail, hospitals, schools, social housing, courthouses, police stations and Defence capability New Zealand will rely on for decades to come. It also invests in resilience projects to help communities stay connected and recover faster following severe weather events and other disruptions.

“These investments will improve transport connections, strengthen public services, support economic growth and back thousands of jobs across New Zealand.

“The Budget drives forward energy, planning and public service reforms to make New Zealand more affordable, more resilient and better positioned for the next generation. 

“It increases funding for health, education, and law and order, helps businesses to transition from gas to other forms of energy, funds the planning reforms needed to unlock growth and reserves, $450 million for potential future temporary and targeted responses to the fuel crisis if required. 

“This is a careful, measured Budget that continues the fiscal repair job begun three years ago while investing in the foundations of New Zealand’s future,” Nicola Willis says. 

“Budget 2026 invests in essential frontline services, critical infrastructure and the reforms needed to secure a future where New Zealanders can look forward to more opportunity, higher wages, better public services and a more affordable country for the next generation.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/a-responsible-budget-to-secure-nzs-future-2/

MIL OSI

Source: New Zealand Government

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/28/budget-2026-securing-new-zealands-future/

MIL OSI