Article – BusinessDesk

TeamTalk affirms annual earnings guidance as rising costs dent first-half profit

By Paul McBeth

Feb. 21 (BusinessDesk) – TeamTalk expects annual earnings to be largely in line with last year after reporting an 11 percent decline in first-half profit as investments in its telecommunications network drove up operating costs. Read more »

Press Release – BusinessDesk

Government to step up efforts as second Queensland fruit fly detected

By Rebecca Howard

Feb. 21 (BusinessDesk) – The government will step up efforts in Auckland to protect the country’s $6 billion horticulture export industry after the discovery of a second male Queensland fruit fly on the North Shore. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Marsden Maritime net profit down on lower cargo through Northport

By Rebecca Howard

Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) – Marsden Maritime Holdings said its net profit was down 16.1 percent as a result of lower bulk cargo through Northport. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

By Jenny Ruth

Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) – Fletcher Building chief executive Ross Taylor has opened the door to taking on new high rise projects because of promising signs that contract terms may improve and says he will make a decision by about the middle of 2019. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Mike Greer Homes first of many scale builders to enter KiwiBuild market: Twyford
By Pattrick Smellie

Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) – Housing Minister Phil Twyford says more KiwiBuild deals with large-scale construction firms are in the pipeline as he announced a deal with Mike Greer Homes for 104 units in West Auckland and Christchurch. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

(Recasts and updates with stock price, Fonterra announcement, broker comment and detail throughout)

By Rebecca Howard

Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) – A2 Milk’s stock jumped 8.6 percent after it said first-half profit climbed 55 percent as the milk marketer continued to expand market share in China despite trade tensions between the US and China crimping consumer spending. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

KiwiRail operating earnings start to improve as Picton-Christchurch rail link reopens
By Pattrick Smellie

Feb. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

UPDATE: Spark 1H profit dips 5.6% as Southern Cross withholds dividend
(Updates with added detail from 8th paragraph)

By Paul McBeth Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

By Rebecca Howard
Feb. 20 (BusinessDesk) – A2 Milk’s first-half profit lifted 55.1 percent as infant formula revenue continued to soar. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

By Nikki Mandow

Feb. 19 (BusinessDesk) – Less than a year after New Zealand merino clothing company Icebreaker was bought by US retail giant VF Corporation for $288 million, the company has announced a big shift for some of its head office staff. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

NZ dollar falls after second fruit fly discovered

By Jenny Ruth

Feb. 19 (BusinessDesk) – An already weak New Zealand dollar fell further on the news that a second fruit fly has been found in Auckland. It is of a different species to the adult male Queensland fly caught last week. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

UPDATE: Precinct raising $150M from an underwritten placement and retail offer
(Updates to add further detail from second par, adds comment from the New Zealand Shareholders’ Association from fifth par) Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Tower affirms earnings guidance, notes increased digital upgrade cost

By Paul McBeth

Feb. 19 (BusinessDesk) – Tower has affirmed its annual earnings guidance, with gains in gross written premium and a lower claims ratio offset by a bigger bill for an extended and more staggered roll-out of its new digital platform. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Precinct raising $150M from an underwritten placement and retail offer
By Jenny Ruth

Feb. 19 (BusinessDesk) – Precinct Properties New Zealand is raising $150 million with only $20 million available to retail shareholders and has paid for underwriting of both it and the $130 million placement to institutional investors. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

UPDATE: Port of Tauranga earnings boosted by Auckland congestion
(Updates with additional comment throughout.)

By Gavin Evans Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

New NZ dry dock a basis for new industry – KiwiRail

By Gavin Evans

Feb. 15 (BusinessDesk) – A dry dock to handle the country’s biggest vessels is affordable and can form the basis of a new marine servicing industry, KiwiRail chair Greg Miller says. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

MPs told $200m Northport rail link ‘critical’

By Gavin Evans

Feb. 14 (BusinessDesk) – Economic growth in Northland is akin to that in Waikato and the Bay of Plenty during the 1970s and 1980s and will need investment in rail to support the region’s growing export industries, MPs heard today. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

By Paul McBeth

Feb. 14 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand’s real estate turnover shrank in January as deals took longer to close and prices rose at a slower annual pace. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

By Gavin Evans

Feb. 14 (BusinessDesk) – Rubber goods maker Skellerup Holdings expects a further increase in record full-year earnings after strong growth in its industrial business boosted first-half profit by 15 percent. Read more »

Article – BusinessDesk

Timeline tight for critical skills education reform, industries say
By Nikki Mandow

Feb. 14 (BusinessDesk) – Business and education providers have just six weeks to respond to a radical proposal from Education Minister Chris Hipkins to reform the vocational training system. Read more »