Looking for a star? We have the Plexure of suggesting it might be found in the cloud

Is  Plexure  the  next rising  star  on the  NZX,  ready to  follow  the  trajectory  of  Xero?

It’s  a  mobile  marketing  company, using an intelligent technology platform  which powers customers’ mobile marketing  activities.  The platform incorporates Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) features which augment Plexure’s capabilities in the areas of personalisation, advanced analytics and platform security.

Plexure’s trading performance has improved dramatically. Customer usage is at record levels and accelerating with 30m new users downloading its apps. This has driven revenues to a new high of $16.9m for the year ended  March 31, when  it had $7.3m in the bank.

Revenue guidance for   the current  year is in a range from $21m to $23m.  By comparison with the FY19 revenues of $16.9m, this represents a 24.3% rise at the lower end of the range and a 36.1% rise at the upper end of the range.

Broadcasters who have interviewed Marama Fox perhaps could help liquidators who can’t find her to serve papers

Liquidators of Marama Fox’s failed consulting company have had to engage agents to track down the former Maori Party leader, according to a Newsroom report today.

The report says creditors have claimed Fox owes them more than $111,000, which she said she planned to pay back through personal finance, soon after her company went into liquidation last year.

It also says Fox has not fronted up with any money and the company’s liquidator Grant Reynolds said he had not been able to get in contact with her for the past few months.

Reynolds said he now planned to serve legal proceedings against Fox, for a breach of her duties as a director.

However, he was not able to serve her with the papers to launch the proceedings without knowing where she was.

Some people believed Fox had moved to Australia, and a photo on her Facebook page pointed to her being in Australia at some point during the year.

Questions about China?

As the song goes, it used to be so easy. China was liberalising, we could buy cheap stuff, the world was becoming a better place.  Now we’ve got more to think about, and it’s much harder.

Consider the following.

Becroft reckons we are too young and impulsive at age 17 to be treated as adults in court – but we are fit to vote at age 16

The recently launched ‘Make It 16’ campaign – aimed at lowering the voting age in New Zealand to 16 – has support from Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft.

Becroft said lowering the voting age would enhance turnout, ingrain the habit of voting and uphold young people’s rights.

If this be so, why stop at 16?

Becroft says

“Children and young people have the right to have their voices heard and taken into account.”

This suggests there should be no age limit.

A week of turmoil, but like the Terminator, Boris and Brexit keep going

Boris Johnson’s opponents celebrated wildly the overturning of his prorogation gambit in the UK Supreme Court earlier this week.  Their exultation showed how much they crave a game-changer. But this doesn’t feel like it.

The government’s strategy is still on track.

How do we stem the West Coast’s population bleed? Let’s try another PGF transfusion

Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau, having dished out a few million dollars of our money in Hawke’s Bay, headed for the West Coast of the South Island.

His arrival there coincided with news that this  is the only part of the country where the population has declined, according to the latest census.

The New Zealand Herald, tapping into RNZ information, reported:

While regions such as Northland had rocketed ahead with 18 per cent growth in the five years to 2018, the coast’s population had slipped by 1.8 per cent, close to where it was 13 years ago.

The region’s flat-lining population was all the more worrying because of the fall in the number of children aged 15 or younger – down 9 per cent since 2013.

Hmm.  How can Tabuteau help?

 With more handouts from the Provincial Growth Fund, silly.  

Impeaching a president is one thing – getting rid of him is another

So, the impeachment process in the US has commenced against President Donald Trump.  In purely local interests – and forgiving the great constitutional issues involved –what does this mean for NZ and the prospects of a free trade agreement?.

Probably little.

Why? Because the great organs of the US state grind on. The president remains in the White House, all Cabinet officials remain in office, NZ’s trade guru Vangelis Vitalis is on his way.

At Monday’s meeting  with Trump in New York, PM Jacinda Adern reaffirmed NZ’s strong preference for an FTA and this was not denied by President Trump, nor by the Vice President, Mike Pence, a political pal of Foreign Minister Winston Peters in the presence of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Farm leader is worried by her sector’s mood – but maybe Peters is perked by the prospect of milking things politically

Farmers’ confidence  has sunk  to  its lowest level in  three years, according to the latest  Rabobank  survey.  Farmers’ outlook for the rural economy for the next year has dropped to a net minus 33%, from minus 2% three months ago.

“The drop of this magnitude is significant,” says Rabobank agricultural analyst Blake Holgate. “It follows three quarters where confidence was gradually increasing.“

And it’s likely to fall further by the end of the year, as the next survey will ask farmers how they feel about new freshwater reforms.

Confidence  in the  dairy  sector  won’t be  boosted   by  Fonterra reporting  a  whopping  loss  of  $605M, on  top of the previous year’s  loss of  $190m.

Fonterra’s poor  performance  is  said to be one of the factors  driving down  confidence.

Boris rides the storm

The inevitable hail of editorial outrage has descended on the head of PM Boris Johnson after yesterday’s Supreme Court decision overturning the Queen’s prorogation of Britain’s Parliament.  He in turn has hastened back from the UN to resume the battle in a reconvened legislature.

The general line is gross-abuse-of-convention-thank-God-for-the-Supreme-Court.  For example, the Financial Times concluded in thunderous tones: “The 11 judges unanimously concluded that Mr Johnson’s five-week suspension of parliament was an unlawful attempt to silence MPs, at the very moment the UK, through Brexit, faces the biggest shake-up in its constitutional status for decades. “

Food firms (which don’t seem to be ill-nourished) get a lick at funding from the PGF

Food innovation and greater employment opportunities are the focus for the latest Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investments – more than $14 million worth this time – for Hawke’s Bay.

The announcement by Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau triggered the Point of Order Trough Monitor.

The breakdown shows:

• Hawke’s Bay Food Innovation Hub – $12 million
• Te Ara Mahi Funded projects
  • Ngāti Pāhauwera Training and Employment Project – $1.359 million
  • Turners and Growers Emerging Leaders Pathways – $557,000
• Apollo Foods – $300,000