Today in Business: September 9, 2025

Welcome to Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business, an experimental AI podcast by the New Zealand Herald.
Each weekday, we bring you five stories, the best of the New Zealand Herald business journalism, summarised and delivered by an AI voice as an easily digestible recap.
It's Tuesday, September 9, 2025, and here are five stories you should know about.
Transpower has lodged an application with the Commerce Commission to invest $1.1 billion upgrading New Zealand's North-to-South Island electricity link. The plan includes replacing three submarine cables, adding a fourth, and building new termination stations. Chief executive James Kilty says consultation showed strong support, adding the HVDC link is vital for reliability. The cables, first laid in 1965 and replaced in 1991, are deteriorating and must be renewed by the early 2030s. Transpower expects no impact on electricity supply during upgrades. The cost will be recovered gradually through transmission charges, which currently make up about 8% of consumer power bills.
In other news, the former head of security for WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit against parent company, Meta, in a US District Court. Attaullah Baig claims Meta ignored serious privacy flaws, allowing thousands of employees access to sensitive user data and failing to stop more than 100,000 daily account hacks. He alleges retaliation and dismissal after warning executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta disputes the claims, with a WhatsApp spokesperson saying the allegations distort the company's security work. Baig, fired in February, is represented by a whistleblower group, and has also alerted federal regulators to his concerns.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's manufacturing and construction sectors recorded the largest sales declines in the June 2025 quarter, according to new Stats NZ data. Manufacturing sales dropped $1 billion, while construction fell $720 million compared to March. Seasonally adjusted, construction sales fell 3.1% after a 0.7% rise in the previous quarter. Total filled jobs across all industries fell 0.5%, or 10,560 positions, to 2.26 million. Construction employment was down, as were roles in administrative and support services. Regionally, Hawke's Bay fell 1.1% and Auckland 0.6%. Across all industries, total sales reached $196 billion, up 2.1% from June 2024.
Elsewhere, Igneo Infrastructure Partners is poised to sell one of New Zealand's biggest energy companies, Clarus Group, to Canadian private capital giant Brookfield, according to the Australian Financial Review. Clarus owns gas and electricity distribution networks in New Zealand, and the paper said a sale could value the business at more than two point two billion dollars. The company's Firstgas connects more than 300,000 homes and businesses with natural gas through its gas distribution and high-pressure transmission network. Its other main businesses are Flexgas, which provides energy storage services to electricity generators, and New Zealand's largest LPG retail supplier, Rockgas. Clarus also owns the Firstlight Network - the lines company supplying electricity to the Tairāwhiti and Wairoa region.
And in banking, ANZ says there's no big restructuring planned for its New Zealand operations despite major job cuts in Australia. Its parent company announced on Tuesday that about 3500 roles would be lost by September next year as part of a restructure costing A$560 million. ANZ New Zealand says changes locally may affect only 20 to 30 positions, consistent with prior years' reviews. The bank employs about 7500 staff in New Zealand. The Australian restructure follows the appointment of new chief executive Nuno Matos, who says the bank is removing duplication and focusing on risk management priorities.
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