New Zealand business assets rise by post-GFC high

The total value of assets held by New Zealand businesses rose by a post-Global Financial Crisis record last year to hit 1.79 trillion NZ dollars (1.3 trillion U.S. dollars), the government statistics agency said Friday.

The assets valued included cash, loans, plant and machinery, and land and buildings, according to Statistics New Zealand.

"This value was up 95 billion NZ dollars (69.44 billion U.S. dollars), or 6 percent from 2014, and was the largest annual increase in total assets since the Global Financial Crisis in 2007-2009," national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said in a statement.

However, the returns on assets fell to 3.3 percent last year from 3.6 percent the year before.

Industry groups showing the highest return on assets for 2015 were health care and social assistance (12 percent), construction (12 percent) and wholesale trade (10 percent).

Small and medium-sized businesses -- those with under 20 employees -- were 97 percent of all businesses and earned 34 billion NZ dollars (24.86 billion U.S. dollars) in operating profits in 2015. Endit