Equities on Wall Street and in Europe gained as investors found value, while a downgraded pace of economic growth for the US helped ease concern that the Federal Reserve is about to take its foot of the monetary stimulus pedal. America’s gross domestic product grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year, according …

Transpower, the state-owned electricity grid company, will pay a special dividend of $65.7 million to the government this month after concluding the sale of derivatives trading unit to ASX in May. The grid company sold d-cyphaTrade to Australian stock market operator ASX for A$55 million. It set the business up in 2002 to promote Australian exchange-traded electricity futures and to …

NorthWest International Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust, the cornerstone shareholder in Vital Healthcare Property Trust, may lift its stake to as much as 24.99 percent from 20 percent by participating in its $39.2 million rights offer. Vital plans to raise the funds through a one-for-10 pro rata renounceable rights issue at $1.275 a share, the manager of the medical …

Mainfreight, the global logistics company, intends mounting a compensation claim against the former owners of Netherlands-based Wim Bosman over the loss of a major customer. The company has “notified the former owner that it intends to bring a claim” but hasn’t started court proceedings, it said in a statement. Mainfreight bought Wim Bosman in 2011 for up to 120 million …

The New Zealand dollar gained as investors were reassured China’s central bank would help ease a credit crunch that sparked concerns about growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The kiwi edged up to 77.30 US cents from 77.16 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. In the past 12 hours, the local currency has traded as low as 76.95 cents and …

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic advanced as investors found value after the recent slump and fresh assurances from central bankers in both China and the US. US economic data provided evidence of further strength, as reports on durable goods orders, sales of new homes, home prices and consumer confidence all beat analysts’ expectations. Also helping was a promise …

DNZ Property Fund, which is raising $80 million to help fund two new acquisitions, will ask shareholders to boost the directors’ fee pool by 27 percent, with the board having presided over a surging share price since the diversified property investor listed in 2010. The Auckland-based property investor wants shareholders to raise the pool to $375,000 for the 2014 and …

Augusta Capital managing director Mark Francis has bought out his brother’s stake in the listed property investor and fund manager for $3.8 million, taking his holding to almost 18 percent. Mark Francis bought 4.5 million shares, or 5.5 percent, of Augusta at 84.5 cents apiece from his brother and general manager Chris Francis, the company said in a statement. The …

Goodman Fielder, the biggest food company in Australia and New Zealand, expects full-year normalised earnings to fall after it sold less poultry and spent more on marketing. Earnings from continuing and discontinued operations before significant items will be A$195 million to A$200 million in the year ending June 30, the Sydney-based company said in a statement. That’s less than the …

Vital Healthcare Property Trust, whose Canadian cornerstone investor is seeking to build its stake, is planning a rights issue next month and has suspended its distribution reinvestment plan for the third-quarter. The medical and healthcare property investor’s manager, Vital Healthcare Management, intends to undertake a pro-rata renounceable offer of new units in late July, it said in a statement, without …