Welcome to Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business, an experimental AI podcast by the New Zealand Herald. Each weekday, we bring you five stories, the best of the New Zealand Herald business journalism, summarised and delivered by an AI voice as an easily digestible recap. It's Thursday, August 21, 2025, and here are five stories you should know about. SkyCity Entertainment Group plans to raise up to $490 million through asset sales and equity raising to repay debt. The company intends to sell quarter-century rights to operate more than 3000 Auckland car parks, potentially worth $200 million, and its headquarters at 99 Albert Street, valued at $54 million. CEO Jason Walbridge says the sale processes are well advanced. SkyCity also plans to raise $240 million by issuing new shares. Net debt rose to $756 million, while revenue fell 5% to $825 million. Profit after tax turned around from a $143 million loss last year to $29.2 million this year. In other news, Jetstar faces a potential fine of more than $1.5 million for misleading customers about compensation. The airline appeared at Auckland District Court on 20 charges under the Fair Trading Act. Prosecutor Jacob Barry says the breaches between 2022 and 2024 involved reckless offending, despite earlier warnings. Jetstar refunded more than $1 million and donated $860,000 to a children's charity. Counsel Joe Edwards says the airline was sorry, improved training, and installed new systems. A specialist team reviewed 55,000 cases to identify affected customers. Judge Brooke Gibson has reserved his decision on sentencing and penalties. Staying with the aviation sector, Auckland Airport's annual revenue has risen 12 percent, to just over $1 billion. Net profit after tax also grew 12 percent to $310.4 million. International passenger movements, including transits, increased 2.5 percent to 10.3 million, while domestic travel dipped 0.5 percent to 8.4 million. Operating earnings increased 14 percent to $701.1 million. Chair Julia Hoare says international seat capacity was at 92 percent of pre-pandemic levels. A final dividend of seven cents per share will be paid in October, bringing total dividends to $223.3 million for the 2025 financial year. In banking news, Kiwibank's net profit fell 5 percent to $191 million in the June year, as loan repayments and lower lending margins offset strong balance sheet growth. Total lending grew 10 percent to $35.8 billion, with home loans rising $2.3 billion, and business lending up $1 billion. Deposits increased 8 percent to $30.3 billion. Chief executive Steve Jurkovich says business banking was a standout performer. Net interest margin fell to 2.25 percent from 2.38 percent. Cabinet has approved plans for parent Kiwi Group Capital to explore raising up to $500 million in capital to strengthen growth and expand customer services. Finally, turning to media, Newstalk ZB has retained its top spot in New Zealand's commercial radio rankings. The station - owned by Herald publisher NZME - lifted market share to 14.9 percent, reaching 620,000 weekly listeners. The Mike Hosking Breakfast grew its share to 21 percent with more than 433,000 listeners. Heather du Plessis-Allan leads the drive show category with a 13.9 percent share. Sister station ZM remains number one in the 25-to-54 demographic, with Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley the most listened-to music breakfast show. The Radio Broadcasters Association reports total commercial radio audiences remain stable at 3.4 million weekly listeners, showing consistent reach across key advertising demographics. That was Today in Business - Powered by Spark for Business - your NZ Herald daily business summary. For the best in business, subscribe to Herald Premium at nzherald.co.nz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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