By Rebecca Howard May 24 (BusinessDesk) - Fonterra Co-operative Group's profit downgrade doesn't impact its rating but increases the importance of its asset sales, Fitch Ratings says. Fonterra yesterday cited "heightened risks" in the fourth quarter to the co-op’s previous...

(Adds detail throughout, comment from economist on payout forecast)  By Rebecca Howard May 23 (BusinessDesk) -  Fonterra Cooperative Group narrowed the range for its forecast payout to farmers this season, cut its earnings guidance and says it may sell more assets as it sli...

By Paul McBeth May 23 (BusinessDesk) - Zespri Group says annual profit rose 77 percent as the fruit export marketer benefited from growing global sales of kiwifruit and bigger fees from the licensing of the SunGold variety.  The firm, which markets kiwifruit on behalf of 2,...

By Gavin Evans May 23 (BusinessDesk) - Fishing company Sanford reported an 8 percent decline in first-half operating earnings after the death of a crew member kept one of its deep water vessels in port for three months. The company today reported adjusted earnings before in...

By Rebecca Howard May 22 (BusinessDesk) - Westland Milk Products farmers will bank - on average - $572,000 from the sale of their shares to Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group if the deal goes ahead, says ANZ Bank New Zealand. Westland signed a conditional agreement to sel...

By Margreet Dietz May 22 (BusinessDesk) - Dairy product prices fell at the Global Dairy Trade auction, ending a record string of 11 consecutive gains, as whole milk powder declined for the fourth straight time. The GDT price index fell 1.2 percent from the previous auction...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Grape grower Terra Vitae has warned earnings will be reduced by a poor harvest. The company, which has vineyards in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay, says that subject to final pricing, including extra payments for reserve grade wines, it w...

By Gavin Evans May 20 (BusinessDesk) - Scales Corp says full-year operating earnings from its reshaped business may rise as much as 13 percent. The agri-business, which last year sold its cold stores and liquid storage operation to expand its petfood interests, expects unde...

By Rebecca Howard May 16 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk said the registration process required to launch Munchkin Inc’s Grass Fed infant formula in the US has been put on hold to allow the company to look at other options.  Synlait "has been informed that the clinical study...

By Rebecca Howard May 16 (BusinessDesk) -  With just over a fortnight to go, the country's current milk season looks to have been a good - but not stellar - year for processors as dry weather at the tail end crimped production.  Production was initially very strong on the b...

By Gavin Evans May 14 (BusinessDesk) - Rural Equities, the farming group majority-owned by the Cushing family, has agreed to sell its second-largest property as it rejigs its portfolio. Puketotara, a beef and sheep finishing operation near Huntly, covers 1,146 hectares and...

(Updates to add CEO comment throughout, comment from New Zealand First)  By Rebecca Howard May 13 (BusinessDesk) - Global ice cream company Froneri has bought Fonterra Cooperative Group's Tip Top for $380 million, ending a six-month sale process.  The price was about $10...

By Jenny Ruth May 13 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk has landed itself in a right pickle after a Court of Appeal judgment that renders its new Pokeno factory in breach of covenants restricting use of that land to grazing, lifestyle farming and forestry. Synlait jumped the gun...

(Updates throughout to add further comments from Synlait and from the Court of Appeal judgment.) By Jenny Ruth May 10 (BusinessDesk) - Synlait Milk says it is confident it can find a solution to the ownership problem now afflicting most of the land on which its new Pokeno f...

By Gavin Evans May 10 (BusinessDesk) - OceanaGold has sought a mining permit over its Wharekirauponga discovery in the Coromandel Forest Park. The deposit lies in the northern part of the 3,762 square-kilometre Hauraki exploration permit the company and its predecessors hav...

By Gavin Evans May 10 (BusinessDesk) - Kiwifruit grower and marketer Seeka has cut its full-year earnings guidance by $4 million due to reduced harvests in both New Zealand and Australia. Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are likely to range...

By Pattrick Smellie May 9 (BusinessDesk) - Global demand for New Zealand's meat and dairy products is under threat as the world responds to climate change by eating more and more plant-based protein, Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron told the government's Just Transitions conf...

By Gavin Evans May 8 (BusinessDesk) - Expansion of gold mining at Waihi is inherently unsustainable, will increase emissions, and will provide only moderate employment benefits relative to winding down the operation and remediating the site, Land Information Minister Eugenie S...

By Pattrick Smellie May 8 (BusinessDesk) - Reactions to the net zero carbon emissions legislation released today range from Greenpeace attacking it as "toothless" and "miserly" to Federated Farmers calling it "frustratingly cruel". Two key issues are at the heart of those a...

By Pattrick Smellie May 8 (BusinessDesk) - After months of cross-parliamentary wrangling, the government this morning unveiled its long-awaited draft legislation that will guide New Zealand to its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Climate Change Respo...

By Margreet Dietz May 8 (BusinessDesk) - Dairy product prices inched higher at the Global Dairy Trade auction, rising for the eleventh straight time, even as whole milk powder posted a third consecutive decline.  The GDT price index gained 0.4 percent from the previous auct...

By Rebecca Howard May 7 (BusinessDesk) - Fonterra Cooperative Group will still be exposed to its former Chinese partner Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co, albeit one step removed, in a new supply deal with Bubs Australia.  Fonterra Australia will supply Bubs with organic milk...