Kia moungaroa te mou - Cautious approach for the year ahead

Parininihi ki Waitōtara is approaching the year ahead with cautious optimism, despite the uncertain times it is operating in.

Rautitikura / Shareholders awaiting the incorporation’s Annual Report, due next month, will be buoyed by the declaration of a $50m profit for the 2021 financial year. But management is already sounding a cautionary note, saying Parininihi ki Waitōtara must remain alert, agile and responsive in the shifting economic environment.

Te Raumāhorahora / Chief Financial Officer Joe Hanita says it all comes down to maintaining focus.

“We planned for lockdowns last year, now we’re back in lockdowns. We’ve learnt that focusing on what’s important works. We must plan well and be prepared to change if change is needed.

“From an operating perspective for the farm business, we had good climatic conditions and a solid milk price, and our other business interests ran relatively smoothly, all of which translated into good financials.

“However, business confidence is still shaky. Living in an uncertain world may be the new norm and we will need to adapt to the changing environment.”

While the focus of the past financial year was protecting the business and delivering a strong dividend to shareholders, the year ahead will see more attention turned to conservatively progressing the strategy for growth.

Te Rau Whakapuāwai / Head of Corporate Services Jacqui King says last year’s consolidation budget included planning for growth. The year ahead will deliver some of those plans.

“We are in a cautious growth phase,” Jacqui says. “There are many organisations just holding the line or conserving for a rainy day. For some, that rainy day has arrived.

“Parininihi ki Waitōtara has the benefit of – against the odds – outperforming a volatile environment last year. But we must be conscious that our aspirational growth plan has to be tempered with the conservatism that’s required to do business in this COVID-19 world.”

The growth strategy includes a commitment to miraka hipi (sheep dairying) and the Hiringa Energy windfarm initiative.

Where pūtea is spent is also changing, reflecting increased activity in key strategic areas. The kaitiaki team, for example, has grown from one person to six.

“Building our team reflects the development of our climate change response strategy and also the regulatory pressures and challenges coming our way, alongside our desire to be at the forefront of that change as good kaitiaki,” Jacqui said.

Other key projects include the Parininihi ki Waitōtara Story – capturing and promoting the history of the whenua and its people – and the development of a Rau Matatau / Alumni programme to enable greater involvement of scholarship recipients into the future. Parininihi ki Waitōtara is also investing in more wellbeing initiatives such as improving the quality of housing for kaimahi.