Briscoe Group, the homeware and sports goods chain controlled by managing director Rod Duke, lifted first-quarter sales 5.9 percent, helping offset weaker gross margins caused by increasing competition among retailers and a late start to winter. Sales rose to $108.6 million in the three months ended April 28, the Auckland-based company said in a statement, with a 5.5 percent lift …

Average house prices in Auckland fell from a record high last month, snapping a three-month advance, as more properties came to market, according to Barfoot & Thomspon, the city’s biggest realtor. The average sale price fell about 0.5 percent to $643,089, having reached a record $645,928 in March, the firm said. The median price dipped 2.4 percent to $566,000 The …

Z Energy’s second full year of operation since its sale to local investors by Shell has produced a 13.1 percent lift in operating earnings, although sales have fallen as the transport fuels distributor cut out loss-making contracts and faced severe competition on petrol station forecourts. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and changes in the value of financial instruments came …

NZX has signalled an end to its unconventional dividend policy, which has tied the stock market operator to stepped increases of not less than 1 cent a share since 2009. The Wellington-based company today declared a first-quarter dividend of 1.25 cents a share and expects to pay 5.6 cents for the year. That’s based on a dividend policy introduced in …

Former Fonterra Cooperative Group chairman Henry van der Heyden will head up the board of national gateway Auckland International Airport after the annual meeting in October. Van der Heyden replaces Joan Withers, who also heads up MightyRiverPower’s board, who signalled her exit last year. The company’s board will start looking for a replacement director in the coming months, it said …

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic gained, pushing the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a record high, after the European Central Bank reduced borrowing costs, while US unemployment claims posted a surprise decline. And Warren Buffett, the 82-year-old billionaire, sent his first tweet-and then promptly attracted followers at an initial rate of about 1,000 a minute. The key …

APN News & Media, the Australasian publisher of the NZ Herald, is aiming to cut A$25 million of costs this year, with the bulk to come from its New Zealand operations, shareholders were told at the annual meeting in Sydney. New Zealand Media chief executive Martin Simons, said APN’s major cost restructuring projects have been completed, with the outsourcing of …

Prices of dairy products fell for the first time in 10 GlobalDairyTrade auctions, led by the whole and skim milk powder as the volume on offer gained for a second session from a two-year low. The GDT-TWI Price Index fell 7.3 percent compared to the last sale two weeks ago, the first decline this year. The average winning price fell …

The New Zealand dollar dropped by more than half a US cent as weaker than expected private payrolls figures in the US eroded investors’ appetite for higher yielding assets. The kiwi may extend its decline after dairy prices sank in the latest auction GlobalDairyTrade auction. The kiwi fell to 84.92 US cents from 85.73 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. …

The latest US economic data were disappointing, more than offsetting the decision by Federal Reserve policy makers to stick with their program of purchasing US$85 billion of bonds a month to bolster growth. “The Committee is prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases to maintain appropriate policy accommodation as the outlook for the labour market or inflation …