Latest / Best of Business / Bridget Snelling: Xero Country Manager on small businesses' year-on-year sales rising 5.6% in the September quarter

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Bridget Snelling: Xero Country Manager on small businesses' year-on-year sales rising 5.6% in the September quarter · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZB.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: A much brighter picture at 23 minutes away from seven
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  Speaker 2: latest cab off the rank as far as the economy
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: is concerned. This is zero data this morning. Tells us
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  Speaker 2: jobs are up two and a half percent year on
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  Speaker 2: year in the September quarter, which is twice the growth
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  Speaker 2: of Q2. Sales are also up 5.6 percent. That's stronger
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  Speaker 2: growth than in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada.
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  Speaker 2: Bridget Snelling, Xero's country manager, is back with us. Bridget,
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  Speaker 2: morning to you.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Mike.
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  Speaker 2: This is encouraging, isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think we're definitely seeing some positive signs in
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  Speaker 1: the latest September quarter data. So definitely, you know, you've
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: said jobs are up 2.5% year-on-year for the economy, and
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  Speaker 1: that's a great thing. And sales are also up, again, 5.6%
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  Speaker 1: year-on-year growth. So we're definitely seeing some good signals.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: So that September, for the next quarter, which will be
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: oil-induced like the rest of the economy, does it snap
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  Speaker 2: back or not?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I think what we've been seeing is
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  Speaker 1: that sales have actually been improving for the past 15
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  Speaker 1: to 18 months after a really tough 2024. So we're
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  Speaker 1: not only, we are only just below the historical average now.
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  Speaker 1: And that is pretty amazing when you think about the
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  Speaker 1: macro headwinds we've already faced this year. around fuel prices
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  Speaker 1: and interest rates starting to go back up. So I
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  Speaker 1: think what we'd like to see going into the next
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  Speaker 1: quarter is just some momentum continuing, particularly as we're heading
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: into that really busy festive period.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. This jobs growth, that's the last cab off
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  Speaker 2: the old economic rank. So 2.5, historically, the average is 2.3.
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  Speaker 2: So that will surprise a lot of people, won't it?
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  Speaker 1: That's right. I mean, I think so. I think this
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  Speaker 1: is a much more positive story than probably we were expecting.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: But it's really good to see jobs growth coming back
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  Speaker 1: because that means that businesses have now, you know, their
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  Speaker 1: cash flows improved a little bit. They've got higher sales.
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  Speaker 1: They're now feeling a bit more confident to hire. And
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  Speaker 1: so that's a really great signal that the SME economy
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  Speaker 1: is actually starting to pick up a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: than we might have expected, actually.
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  Speaker 2: Is it tilted by ag? Ag is doing well on
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  Speaker 2: everything follows?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, look, ag is definitely doing well. So when
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  Speaker 1: we look at the overall picture, you know, sales are up,
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  Speaker 1: but agri is up 14.3%. But it is actually back
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  Speaker 1: a little bit from the June quarter. So reflecting, you know,
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  Speaker 1: at moderation after a really prolonged period of strong performance.
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  Speaker 1: So I think, you know, agri is still really strong
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: in the sector. We see that hospitality is still not.
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  Speaker 1: Rebounding, I guess we could say, as much as we
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  Speaker 1: would have liked. Employment declined actually 1.4% for hospitality. So
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  Speaker 1: that is the exception to kind of the broader improvement
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  Speaker 1: across the country.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: It's a good story, Bridget. Good to catch up. Appreciate it,
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  Speaker 2: Bridget Snelling, who's the Zero Country Manager. There needs to
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  Speaker 2: be more of this. In fact, Anna Broman is with
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  Speaker 2: us after seven o'clock, was talking about savings yesterday. And
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: savings are up. We're saving money. So I mean, how
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: are we saving money if we can't afford butter and
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: can't afford the power bill? So there's a discrepancy there
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  Speaker 2: in the story told largely in the media versus what's
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  Speaker 2: actually going on.