By Rebecca Howard May 21 (BusinessDesk) - Synalit Milk has received a cease and desist letter regarding its Pokeno land but believes a practical solution is attainable.  Synlait has begun building a second nutritional powder manufacturing site that had been set to be commis...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Eastland Group has returned a record $12.1 million to its community shareholding trust, boosted by earnings from the firm’s new geothermal plant at Kawerau. The payout – comprising a $10 million dividend and $2.1 million of capital not...

(Updates and recasts on share price, adds broker comment) By Paul McBeth May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Steel & Tube Holdings shares dropped 8.9 percent after the steel products maker cut its earnings outlook. The shares fell 11 cents to $1.12 in early trading after the company...

By Paul McBeth May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Steel & Tube Holdings has cut its earnings outlook as margins remain under pressure, and after restating its year-earlier accounts gave it a lower starting point.  The steel products maker expects earnings before interest and tax of $1...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Building a new rail link to Marsden Point and upgrading the existing Northland line could bring forward Northport’s development as a major freight handler for Auckland and help boost the broader regional economy, an economic analysis says...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Infratil is confident its purchase of Vodafone New Zealand will be approved by regulators and says it has no interest in selling out of Trustpower to help secure a deal. Infratil and Brookfield Asset Management are seeking Commerce Com...

By Jenny Ruth May 17 (BusinessDesk) - The cost of building materials in New Zealand account for between 16-24 percent of the cost of residential housing development costs, depending on the type of building and location, according to a study by accounting firm Deloitte. If t...

(Adds company comment throughout) By Gavin Evans May 17 (BusinessDesk) – Infratil’s purchase of a stake in Vodafone New Zealand will be transformative for its portfolio and should generate the sort of returns that will allow the company to return to a rising dividend track,...

By Paul McBeth May 17 (BusinessDesk) - Businesses got a reprieve in the March quarter as cheaper wholesale electricity helped push down the prices producers paid in the period.  Prices paid by producers, known as input prices, fell 0.9 percent in the March quarter, its firs...

By Rebecca Howard May 17 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's April manufacturing activity expanded versus March but was well down on the year as demand growth continues to cool. The Bank of New Zealand-Business NZ performance of manufacturing index rose 1 point to a seasonally a...

By Paul McBeth May 17 (BusinessDesk) - Genesis Energy and Tilt Renewables have signed a 20-year supply agreement, laying the foundation for the construction of a 31-turbine wind farm in Waverley, South Taranaki.  The power companies finalised the deal, which will see Genesi...

By Paul McBeth May 16 (BusinessDesk) - Wellington International Airport lifted annual earnings 6.3 percent as the capital city's gateway continued to benefit from rising passenger numbers.  Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to $101.4 million...

By Paul McBeth May 16 (BusinessDesk) - Excluding Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies risks driving up the cost of building a 5G mobile network and undermining competition in its development, according to a draft mobile market study.  Spark New Zealand had pl...

By Rebecca Howard May 16 (BusinessDesk) - High-tech components maker Rakon lifted full-year earnings 10 percent, meeting guidance, as 4.5/5G telecommunications infrastructure demand continues to grow. But profits were down on last year and debt soared. Underlying earnings b...

By Paul McBeth May 16 (BusinessDesk) - Infratil’s billion-dollar play for Vodafone New Zealand is set to change the way telecommunications firms invest in national infrastructure. Chief executive Marko Bogoievski told analysts this week that the nation can’t afford to inves...

By Gavin Evans May 15 (BusinessDesk) - OMV says it supports greater disclosure of outages in the gas sector but is concerned some players may have unrealistic expectations of new rules intended to make that happen. New Zealand’s biggest gas producer says it is alive to the...

By Rebecca Howard May 15 (BusinessDesk) - First NZ Capital has lowered its target price for Infratil shares after the infrastructure investor flagged plans to make a $1.03 billion investment in Vodafone New Zealand.  Multinational telco Vodafone Group has agreed to sell its...

By Paul McBeth May 15 (BusinessDesk) - Fulton Hogan is looking to sell its Australian civil construction unit which has been a drag on earnings for the past 18 months.  The privately-held company has hired Macquarie Investment Bank to run a sale process with a view to flogg...

By Gavin Evans May 15 (BusinessDesk) - Discount fuel retailer Waitomo Group expects to open five to six new outlets annually as it builds out its national network. The Hamilton-based company yesterday opened its southern-most fuel stop in Upper Hutt. It will open an outlet...

By Rebecca Howard May 14 (BusinessDesk) -  Infratil and Brookfield Asset Management's $3.4 billion purchase of Vodafone NZ will see them each pay $1.03 billion for a 49.9 percent stake. The balance will come from taking on about $1.34 billion of Vodafone New Zealand's debt,...

By Paul McBeth May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Chorus has hired Downer EDI and Cimic Group's Visionstream to maintain its copper and fibre telecommunications network for the next three years at a cost of about $450 million.  The new contracts cut out Broadspectrum, which along with...

(Updates to add detail, financials in paragraph seven)  By Rebecca Howard May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Vodafone Group has sold Vodafone New Zealand to a consortium comprising Infratil and Canada's Brookfield Asset Management for an enterprise value of $3.4 billion, it said in a...