(Recasts to adds details of FlexiGroup strategy, funding) By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 27 (BusinessDesk) - FlexiGroup, the ASX-listed financial services company, says it sees a significant opportunity to lift the share of New Zealand credit spending captured by Fisher & Payke...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 27 (BusinessDesk) - Fletcher Building's construction unit has won the $477 million contract to build a convention centre, five-star hotel and associated infrastructure for SkyCity Entertainment Group in Auckland that the casino and hotel company agre...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar extended its gain against the euro to a four-month high after the European Central Bank signalled it will expand its quantitative easing programme, driving appetite for riskier currencies such as the kiwi an...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) - The Reserve Bank may keep the official cash rate unchanged next week to avoid inflaming Auckland's housing market and to keep some capacity up its sleeve should global growth stumble, even though the kiwi dollar has gained when th...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) - Marsden Maritime Holdings, which owns half of the Marsden Point-based Northport along with a marina, commercial facilities and land, expects trade volumes through the port to be little changed for a second year following a levelli...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 22 (BusinessDesk) - Port of Tauranga, New Zealand's biggest port company, says earnings growth may stall in 2016 in the face of uncertainty over log and dairy volumes, which may offset growth in containers. The Tauranga-based company, which is aim...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 22 (BusinessDesk) - Shipping rates in New Zealand waters have become "unsustainably low" in the wake of supply chain agreements such as between Kotahi and Port of Tauranga, said South Port New Zealand chairman Rex Chapman. He told shareholders at...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 22 (BusinessDesk) - The Australian government's response to the financial system inquiry could drive up interest rates at New Zealand's biggest lenders as their Australian parent banks seek higher returns because of the requirement that they hold mor...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 21 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand dollar fell to a five-day low, and may extend its decline, after dairy prices fell for the first time in five auctions on the GlobalDairyTrade platform. The kiwi fell to 67.50 US cents as at 5pm in Wellington, f...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Forest & Bird, the conservation lobby group, says it will seek a High Court review of the Department of Conservation's decision to allow 22 hectares of Ruahine Forest Park to be flooded as part of the Ruataniwha Water Storage Sche...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Livestock Improvement Corp, a farmer cooperative that sells bull semen and manages a dairy genetics database, said it expects a drop in 2016 earnings as farmers reduce spending in the face of a lower milk payout. The Hamilton-b...

(Updates customer numbers in second paragraph to reflect latest quarterly report) By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Genesis Energy said it has seen growth in electricity sales in the first three months of the new financial year after New Zealand's biggest elect...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Coca-Cola Amatil NZ, the local unit of the world's biggest beverage company, has praised Health Minister Jonathan Coleman's plans to combat childhood obesity, saying there is no "single fix" for the problem. The company's local...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 20 (BusinessDesk) - Goodman Property Trust has completed its refinancing for the year with a new $157 million debt facility for Wynyard Precinct Holdings, its joint venture with Singapore government-owned GIC. The facility with Westpac Banking Cor...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 19 (BusinessDesk) - The NZ Food and Grocery Council and the Taxpayers' Union have welcomed the government's announcement of 22 initiatives aimed at tackling obesity in young people, which focusses on education, health checks and physical activity, ra...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 19 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand shares rose, pushing the S&P/NZX 50 Index to the highest in more than two months, as the rebound in dairy prices, relatively low kiwi dollar and rising house prices lifted sentiment for the economic outlook. Heartland...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 19 (BusinessDesk) - Moa Group said its first-half loss narrowed after the listed beer company lifted the volume and value of sales and improved its gross margin. The net loss was $1.7 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, an improvement on the...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 16 (BusinessDesk) - Law firm Parker & Associates says it now has more than 500 potential claimants for its leaky homes lawsuit against James Hardie Industries, transforming the case into a class action against the maker of Hardiflex cladding. The...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 16 (BusinessDesk) - China's state-owned Bright Food Group has provided a letter of comfort to Silver Fern Farms that it will vote its 38 percent stake in Shanghai Maling Aquarius in favour of acquiring 50 percent of New Zealand's biggest meat company...

Oct. 16 (BusinessDesk) - The Financial Markets Authority has hired Barclays Bank executive Nick Kynoch as general counsel and replaced its HR manager as part of a revamped and expanded leadership team. Kynoch, who had been global head of regulatory compliance at Barclays' inve...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 15 (BusinessDesk) - Shanghai Pengxin says it will seek a judicial review of the government's decision to decline its $88 million purchase of Lochinver Station amid signs the investment group's strategy in New Zealand is being thwarted by a new hardli...

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 14 (BusinessDesk) - Trade Me, New Zealand's largest online auction site, affirmed the guidance it gave with its full-year result in August, for sales and earnings growth to be broadly similar in 2016. Revenue rose 11 percent to about $200 million...