Article – BusinessDesk

Avanti bike founders cut remaining ties with the business, selling to Scott Sports

By Tina Morrison

April 24 (BusinessDesk) – The Struthers family, which founded the Avanti bicycle brand and built Sheppard Industries into the largest cycling company in Australasia, has cut its final ties to the business, selling its remaining shareholding to a Switzerland-based company, Scott Sports. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

NZ Refining says Marsden Point shutdown hit profit by $8.2 mln
By Sophie Boot

April 23 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand Refining, operator of the country’s only oil refinery, says its 2017 oil pipeline failure knocked net profit by $8.2 million last year. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Precinct Properties sells Deloitte House for $10.2M, considers offers on Auckland’s ANZ Centre

By Sophie Boot Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

NXT-listed QEX Logistics says annual gross margins wider than anticipated

By Paul McBeth

April 23 (BusinessDesk) – NXT-listed QEX Logistics, which joined the small-cap board in February, says annual gross margins were wider than anticipated, spanning a period when exports to China hit a quarterly record. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

High Court orders Forestlands IRD debt can be paid from $18M funds in trust; liquidation sought by FMA

By Sophie Boot

April 23 (BusinessDesk) – The Financial Markets Authority has applied to the High Court for 18 Forestlands companies to be put into liquidation, with the court having ordered that the companies’ tax debts can be paid from money held in trust. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

UPDATE: Fletcher shares gain after shortfall bookbuild cleared at premium to offer price

(Recasts lede on shares, adds broker comment) Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Fletcher shortfall bookbuild cleared at premium to offer price; trading to resume today

By Paul McBeth

April 20 (BusinessDesk) – Fletcher Building completed the institutional component of its $750 million capital raise, with investors paying a premium to the discounted offer in a bookbuild to clear the leftover entitlements. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

By Paul McBeth

April 19 (BusinessDesk) – Christchurch-based building company Spanbild has bought out Concision Panelised Technology partner Mike Greer Homes (MGH), giving it control of a building panelisation factory in Rolleston. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

UPDATE: NZ annual inflation slows to 1.1% as cheaper education offsets higher tobacco prices

(Recasts lede, adds economists comment from paragraph four) Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

NZ 1Q inflation 0.5%, annual rate slows to 1.1% as cheaper education offsets higher tobacco prices

By Rebecca Howard

April 19 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand first-quarter inflation was in line with expectations as higher prices for cigarettes and tobacco were offset by cheaper tertiary education costs. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

NZME attracts former ASB boss Barbara Chapman to its board

By Paul McBeth

April 18 (BusinessDesk) – NZME has appointed former ASB Bank chief Barbara Chapman as a director as part of the newspaper publisher and radio station operator’s efforts to renew the board. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Cluster theory has failed to take hold in NZ manufacturing, MBIE report shows

By Pattrick Smellie

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Twenty-seven years after the Porter Project recommended New Zealand should pursue a “clusters” strategy to develop its manufacturing base, a government study of the manufacturing sector has found there are “few economically significant manufacturing clusters in New Zealand”. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

UPDATE: Restaurant Brands lifts FY profit 37%, may expand to US mainland
By Tina Morrison

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Restaurant Brands New Zealand increased annual profit 37 percent after the fast-food operator lifted earnings in its local market and benefited from its new businesses in Australia and Hawaii. It’s now eyeing expansion to the US mainland. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Fletcher unveils $1.25B refinancing plan amid talks over lending breach with US noteholders

By Jonathan Underhill

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Fletcher Building has unveiled a $1.25 billion refinancing plan to strengthen its balance sheet after extending talks with US noteholders over a breach of its lending conditions. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Restaurant Brands lifts FY profit 37%; eyes future expansion

By Tina Morrison

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Restaurant Brands New Zealand increased annual profit 37 percent after the fast-food operator lifted earnings in its local market and benefited from its expanded business through Australia and Hawaii. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Summerset buys land for second Napier village, Metlife finalises deal for Hobsonville site

By Paul McBeth

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Summerset Group Holdings wants to build a second retirement village in Napier, while Metlifecare has finalised a land purchase for a site in Auckland’s Hobsonville as retirement village operators continue to expand their national footprints. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Smiths City to write down unprofitable stores by $4.8M, pushing it into the red

By Paul McBeth

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Smiths City Group will write down several unprofitable stores by $4.8 million as the rebranded Auckland stores struggle to gain traction with an unfamiliar clientele, pushing the retailer into the red for the current financial year. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

NZ house sales drop 9.9% in March, take longer to sell as Auckland market cools

By Paul McBeth

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand house sales fell 9.9 percent and took a day longer to sell in March from a year earlier as a cooling Auckland property market continued to weigh on the national outlook. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Fletcher to raise $750M selling shares at deep discount, sell Formica, roof tiles business

By Jonathan Underhill

April 17 (BusinessDesk) – Fletcher Building plans to raise $750 million in an underwritten offer to shareholders at a deep discount and sell its Formica and steel roof tile businesses, strengthening its balance sheet and gaining support from its banking syndicate after a breach of lending conditions. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Some travel disruption but no earnings impact from Rolls Royce engine checks, says Air NZ

By Paul McBeth

April 16 (BusinessDesk) – Air New Zealand expects early engine maintenance checks will prompt some changes to its international flight schedule, but doesn’t anticipate a hit to earnings and affirmed annual guidance. Read more »