
By Pattrick Smellie June 27 (BusinessDesk) - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has made Megan Woods her new housing minister in a bid to cauterise the political damage done by Phil Twyford’s leadership of the struggling KiwiBuild programme. Twyford remains in charge of urban devel...

By Paul McBeth June 27 (BusinessDesk) - Communications Minister Kris Faafoi wants a framework for iwi radio spectrum allocations that will endure beyond the current discussions over 5G technology. The minister said he's had positive conversations over Treaty of Waitangi i...
By Rebecca Howard June 27 (BusinessDesk) - Stock exchange operator NZX has made positive changes to its market surveillance since concerns were raised a year ago, the Financial Markets Authority's latest annual review found. "This year’s review acknowledges the positive ch...
(Updates with detail throughout) By Pattrick Smellie June 27 (BusinessDesk) - Public sector chief executives should offer to resign in the case of "major failings", but there was no such offer from Treasury secretary Gabriel Makhlouf over the Treasury website security laps...
By Gavin Evans June 27 (BusinessDesk) - Contact Energy says its 377 megawatt gas-fired Taranaki Combined Cycle plant could play an important role helping electrify industry but it would need cheaper and more reliable gas supplies to do so. The company makes most of its powe...
By Rebecca Howard June 27 (BusinessDesk) - TIL Logistics lowered its full-year net profit guidance on increases in temporary staffing costs after its Move Logistics unit relocated to new warehouse facilities sooner than expected. The New Plymouth-based freight and logistics...
By Gavin Evans June 26 (BusinessDesk) - Napier Port plans to kick-off its share offer mid-July and list its stock on the NZX the following month. The country’s fourth-largest container port will offer up to 45 percent of its shares after the sale was approved by owner Hawk...
By Paul McBeth June 26 (BusinessDesk) - The parent company of the former Hawkins businesses tipped into receivership has been ordered to pay $1.1 million of court costs for exploiting the looming failure and delaying a leaky school claim brought by the Ministry of Education. ...
(Updates and recasts with share price, CEO briefing, broker comment) By Paul McBeth June 26 (BusinessDesk) - Fletcher Building shares recovered some of yesterday's decline as the country's biggest listed construction company announced plans to buy back as much as $300 milli...
By Gavin Evans June 26 (BusinessDesk) - Tilt Renewables is considering selling its 270 MW Snowtown 2 wind farm in South Australia. The project, completed in 2014 alongside its original 101 MW Snowtown development, is Tilt’s largest operating asset and one of the largest win...
By Paul McBeth June 26 (BusinessDesk) - Fletcher Building plans to buy back as much as $300 million of stock, with the bulk of the billion-dollar Formica sale proceeds being used to cut debt. The country's biggest listed construction firm is hosting investors in Sydney tod...
By Pattrick Smellie June 25 (BusinessDesk) - The government should reallocate KiwiBuild funding to social and rental housing rather than take on higher levels of financial risk than housing policies of other countries to assist KiwiBuild buyers who are "sufficiently well off t...
By Pattrick Smellie June 24 (BusinessDesk) - Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern went out of her way to defend the record of Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford while announcing her "relatively minor" Cabinet portfolio reshuffle will be unveiled on Thursday. Twyfo...
By Gavin Evans June 24 (BusinessDesk) - Cost-effective emissions reduction will require a granular approach and a willingness to rethink traditional ways energy is used in the economy, a visiting climate and sustainability expert says. Michael Liebreich says the interaction...
By Gavin Evans June 24 (BusinessDesk) - Meridian Energy’s Australian business has agreed to supply power and gas to a new energy service being started by online retailer Kogan.com. The multi-year agreement is expected to take effect before the end of 2019. Powershop will su...
By Gavin Evans June 21 (BusinessDesk) - The government is defending its 100 percent renewable electricity target against criticism that it risks distracting efforts from cheaper and larger emission reduction efforts elsewhere. Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says...
By Paul McBeth June 21 (BusinessDesk) - The government’s $100 million Green Investment Fund isn’t targeting an overall rate of return, but will instead weigh up each investment on an individual basis. Treasury deputy secretary Struan Little told Parliament’s finance and exp...
By Pattrick Smellie June 21 (BusinessDesk) - An Auckland-based tech start-up owned by two Russian emigre ICT engineers has raised $4.1 million in seed funding to pursue rapid revenue growth for Termius, an encrypted product that allows users to synchronise data across multiple...
(Updates with additional comment from Ballance throughout on venture structure, current gas use, and possible timeline.) By Gavin Evans June 20 (BusinessDesk) - Ballance Agri-Nutrients is to develop 16 MW of wind generation at its Kapuni site as part of a plan to produce re...
By Paul McBeth June 20 (BusinessDesk) - Listed investment entity Kingfish's manager Fisher Funds Management likens Infratil's planned Vodafone New Zealand purchase to its successful foray into the retail fuels market. Infratil was Kingfish's fourth-biggest investment as at...
(Recasts lead, updates currency in paragraph four, adds comment from economists beginning in paragraph seven.) By Rebecca Howard June 20 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand’s economy grew in line with expectations in the first quarter, with strong construction activity offsetting ...
By Gavin Evans June 20 (BusinessDesk) - Ballance Agri-Nutrients is to develop 16 MW of wind generation at its Kapuni site as part of a plan to produce renewable hydrogen there. The fertiliser maker has partnered with Hiringa Energy to develop the $50 million project at its...
By Jenny Ruth June 20 (BusinessDesk) - Kiwi Property Group is considering adding residential property to its mixed-use centres, although no decisions have been made about how to go about it, chair Mark Ford told the annual shareholders' meeting. “It's certainly something we...