Rangatira Annual Report 2023 - Flipbook - Page 9
Ra n g a t i ra An n u a l Re p ort 2023
There is a competing facility being opened later this year not far
The Company continues to develop its product offerings with
from the Polynesian Spa site. It is unclear the impact this may
ongoing refinements and enhancements of its very successful
have on the operations, but in the short term, we expect some
SpinsolveĀ© line of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
impact on visitor numbers.
spectrometers which we are currently offering with 60 MHz,
80MHz and 90 MHz field strengths and in Classic, Ultra and
NZ Scaffolding has proven largely resilient to the reduced
MultiX models.
demand seen in residential building numbers. While only
invested for approximately six months it has performed
Having been the first to market, we now hold a 50 per cent share
according to plan with good discipline over capital expenditure
in a market that continues to grow. Demand remains strong
and high cash conversion.
and is growing particularly fast for higher field strength and
with the Ultra and MultiX enhancements. This demonstrates
With the strong pipeline of infrastructure investment
how far our NMR spectrometers have come, from primarily a
nationwide, impacts from Cyclone Gabrielle and the strong
university teaching tool in the early years to a tool for scientific
market in Wellington we expect another good year ahead.
investigational and research work that is flexible, cost-effective,
Our initial expectations of a cyclical fall in demand and earnings
at the time of making this investment have not yet materialised.
BeGroup continues to see good demand across its six villages,
while some perform better than others on balance they continue
to trade well and above our expectations. We expect to add one
more village to the group in the first half of this year and may
continue to opportunistically look for further villages to add to
the portfolio.
The investment has performed well seeing strong resale cash
flows and an uplift in independently assessed valuations.
and rapid, and in some applications provides more utility than
high-field NMR. We are also seeing increased use in industry for
applications such as process development, and in government
for forensic applications.
Magritekās German production facility has continued to operate
efficiently and safely, and we are now considering expanding the
facility by a further 25 per cent to meet demand.
Fiordland Lobster recorded another record profit, although
was impacted by high stock losses in the closing months of the
season, due in part to higher-than-normal water temperatures.
An extensive review was completed into the processes around
We hold the view that due to the demand characteristics and
transporting and processing fish when water temperatures are
increasing acceptance of the offering that this will be less
high, providing a greater understanding so we feel we are in a
correlated to property prices than it has in the past. Certainly, in
better position for the future.
the case of higher-end offerings like Rawhiti, this is proving to
be the case.
The Australian market continues to be closed to China, although
we hope this will open in the short to medium term which should
While there are several regulatory reviews underway for this
have a material impact on earnings. This has advanced our work
sector, we believe the overall industry dynamics and underlying
to sell into new markets. While it is early days, good progress is
demand provide a robust environment for ongoing investment.
being made in the USA, Singapore, and South Korea.
Magritek is now our largest investment as its earnings and
For New Zealand product, with the Chinese borders and
value has continued to grow. This consistent growth has led
economy opening, we are seeing more consistent demand than
Ampersand Capital, a large US-based technology investor, to
we have had over the last three years.
increase its stake from 6.7 per cent to 20 per cent stake in June
2023.
New Zealand Pastures saw a fall in lamb and beef pricing this
session which led to lower earnings. Nonetheless, with farming
The business has had another record year with revenues up
operations now in the second year of traditional farming as
23 per cent on the prior year, and now with five-year revenue
opposed to running the properties as fattening blocks, we have
growth of 19 per cent per annum. This has led to record levels
seen improvements in the efficiency and stability of earnings.
of profitability which has allowed the business to return over
$26m to shareholders in the last five years through dividends
and share buybacks.
Considerable effort recently has been expended into developing
a portfolio of forestry blocks. We now have 13 blocks of
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