Latest Posts in December 2009

At least two big finance companies are welcoming the chance to wean themselves and their investors off the Government’s retail deposit guarantee scheme.
From the New Year, banks, finance companies, building societies and other institutions covered by the Crown guarantee scheme can choose to also offer non-guaranteed investments, as long as this is clearly disclosed.
PGG Wrightson [...]

Rural Equities Ltd has sold Fox’s Peak Station in South Canterbury for $6.3 million, in a move towards dairy at the expense of sheep and beef.
An undisclosed New Zealand buyer signed an unconditional agreement to purchase the 4799-hectare high-country sheep and beef farm, which has been owned by REL for more than 20 years.
The sale, [...]

NZ dollar gains across the board as South Pacific favoured in month end

Dec. 30 (BusinessWire) – The New Zealand dollar gained as some fund managers preparing for month-end flowed into the trans-Tasman currencies to square up their position heading into January.
The kiwi surged 1.1% on a trade-weighted basis as “real money flows and custodian accounts [...]

New Zealand Business Roundtable chairman Rob McLeod today congratulated former Business Roundtable chairman Sir Douglas Myers on being made Knight Companion of the Order of New Zealand for services to business and the community.
Mr McLeod said that Sir Douglas, who was chairman of the Business Roundtable from 1990 to 1997 and former chief executive and [...]

Marlborough’s economic development advocates could advance their cause by inviting John Allen, the new secretary of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to exchange ideas and perhaps follow up with market knowledge and distribution connections.
If invited, the business-oriented senior government manager would accept an invitation to something like a “business after five” discussion [...]

Dec. 29 (BusinessWire) – New Zealand shares rose in subdued trading, as many local investors took a Christmas-New Year holiday. Telecom Corp. and NZX Ltd. led the advance.
The NZX 50 climbed 19.92, or 0.6%, to 3225.12 in the first trading day since Dec. 24. It was the third gain in four sessions. Within the index, [...]

Leading online accommodation provider Wotif.com has announced the top destinations across New Zealand this New Years Eve, based on bookings.
Wellington is the third most popular place, with Auckland at the top of the list, closely followed by Christchurch.
Below is a list of the top ten most popular NYE destinations in New Zealand this year:
1. Auckland, [...]

The New Zealand sharemarket opened firmer today, with all three leading stocks gaining on thin volumes.
Fletcher Building, which rose 5c on Christmas Eve, added 4c to $7.99 in the first 10 minutes of trading this morning, while Telecom rose 3c to $2.48 and Contact Energy rose 2c to $6.08.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index was up 7.16 [...]

Blair McKolskey is brimming with ideas for the future of furniture manufacturing in New Zealand - a future he says is coming under increasing threat from foreign competition.
McKolskey became the director of Finewood - an Auckland-based furniture manufacturer founded in the 1970s - around four years ago.
Finewood currently earns around 15 to 20 per cent of [...]

New Zealand’s biggest company needs to get capital structure off its agenda and focus on running the business, Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden says.
Getting shareholder approval for the proposed third stage of the dairy giant’s capital restructure, share trading between its farmer-owners, is one of two big challenges his board will face next [...]