Tribal wealth continues to grow whānau wellbeing

Tribal wealth continues to grow whānau wellbeing

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu has achieved another strong financial performance with a profit of $168.73m (post distribution) for the year ended 30 June 2016.

“Naturally we are delighted by this result, not only is it testament to the performance of our long-term investment strategy but more importantly this positive growth in our pūtea enables us to fund tribal initiatives that strengthen and empower our Ngāi Tahu whānau and communities,” says Tā Mark Solomon, Te Rūnanga Kaiwhakahaere.

Te Rūnanga has received a distribution of $44.2m for the year from its commercial arm for tribal development bringing the total since Settlement to $396m.

Over the past year $11.4m was spent on Oranga (wellbeing) including business and enterprise development and homeownership initiatives, $4.6m on environmental protection and enhancement projects, $3.5m on education and $4.1m on projects to enhance the culture and identity.

This year the iwi is honouring the 10-year anniversary of three key tribal initiatives: Whai Rawa, Aoraki Bound and the Ngāi Tahu Funds.

“These three programmes have all made an enormous contribution to the personal, cultural and financial growth of Ngāi Tahu whānau and communities. All three have undergone a review at this important juncture to ensure they remain relevant and continue to produce our intended outcomes,” says Tā Mark.

Whai Rawa, the iwi savings scheme now has a total fund value of over $52m. The Ngāi Tahu Funds, established to strengthen cultural excellence, has funded 855 projects over the past decade to a total value of $8.5m and Aoraki Bound has completed 22 successful courses with close to 250 alumni.

Tā Mark says, “As always it is important to acknowledge the expertise of our commercial arm, Ngāī Tahu Holdings in delivering these positive results year-on-year. We are fortunate to have such a dedicated team of professionals across the breadth of the Holdings portfolio.”

Ngāi Tahu Holding Chair Trevor Burt says, “It’s been another great year for the Holdings Group largely driven by the ongoing demand for residential housing in the Christchurch residential property market, strong kōura sales into China and the significant upturn in the tourism industry.

Key financial results for the Ngāi Tahu Holdings Group were:
· Net Operating Surplus: $103.96m

· Total Net Profit: $210.55m

· Operating Return on Equity: 8.73%

“The positive results over the last few years have seen total equity grow to in excess of $1.2b. Looking ahead we are on track for another good year across the group, although, we are predicting new challenges for the property company coming off the back of a number of outstanding years resulting from the demand for residential property in Christchurch post earthquakes. We are excited about the opportunites created by our recent acquisitions, 50 percent shareholdings in both mānuka honey specialist Watson and Son and South Island logistics company Hilton Haulage.” Mr Burt says.

“Next year we will celebrate 20 years since Settlement. We have worked hard to build our solid economic foundation of which we are very proud. However, we are very aware that our responsibility to whānau goes beyond the financial and as we look to the future we must shift our focus to ensure we are reflecting the Ngāi Tahu values in every aspect of our business,” says Tā Mark.

ENDS

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