Fonterra Cooperative Group plans to slash its consumer brands in Australia to restore profitability as competition intensifies for both milk supply and retail sales. The company’s ANZ division, which produces consumer products and ingredients in Australia and New Zealand and runs the RD1 rural supplies chain, posted a 32 percent decline in normalised earnings before interest and tax in the …

Telecom Corp, which is in the process of overhauling its business, has launched its pricing plans for ultra-fast broadband, with the cheapest option available at $95 a month. The country’s biggest phone company is offering national pricing plans for households, small businesses and schools over Chorus’ fibre network and is still working on products with three other UFB partners, it …

Hallentein Glasson, which runs the clothing chains for which it’s named, lifted first-half profit 15 percent to meet the bottom of its own forecast range, and has struggled to gain traction due to unseasonally warm weather. Net profit rose to $10.3 million, or 17.39 cents per share, in the six months ended Feb. 1, from $9.8 million, or 15.14 cents, …

The founding chief executive of MightyRiverPower, Doug Heffernan, will leave the company next year after 16 years at the helm under arrangements that trigger a $500,000 retention payment on top of his existing salary of almost $1.5 million last year. The arrangements mean Heffernan will see through the company’s partial privatisation and its first full financial year as a publicly …

Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, expects to pay 30 cents more to farmers per kilogram of milk solids as drought pushed up global dairy prices and the cooperative lifted first half profit by a third. The Auckland-based company will pay $5.80 per kgMS and expects to pay an annual dividend of 32 cents per share, meaning a …

Wall Street advanced as the latest US housing numbers confirmed expectations that the industry will sustain its recovery, underpinning optimism for the overall strength of the American economy. Residential real estate prices in 20 cities climbed 8.1 percent in January from the same time last year, posting the largest 12-month increase since June 2006, according to S&P/Case-Shiller data. And while …

New Zealand shares rose, with units of the Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund gaining ahead of company’s interim results tomorrow, while Ryman Healthcare, rated outperform by analysts, rose to a record. The NZX 50 Index rose 5.29 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4346.02. Within the index, 23 stocks gained, 20 fell and seven were unchanged. Turnover was $117 million. Fonterra units rose …

The New Zealand dollar may fall if a bank run in heavily indebted nations emerges after a lifeline thrown to Cyprus saw a major bank shut down and will leave uninsured depositors facing losses. The kiwi traded at 84.44 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.59 cents at 8am and 83.47 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index gained to 76.60 …

New Zealand posted a biggest-than-expected trade surplus last month on shipments of whole milk powder, logs and sheep meat to China. The surplus was $414 million in February from a revised deficit of $287 million in the previous month, according to Statistics New Zealand. The annual trade deficit narrowed to $1.08 billion from $1.3 billion. The figures beat the Reuters …

Kathmandu, the outdoor equipment retailer, posted a 13 percent gain in first-half sales, driven by revenue from is biggest market of Australia. Sales climbed to $165.9 million in the six months ended Jan. 31, from $146.7 million a year earlier, the Christchurch-based company said in a statement. Net profit rose to $4.3 million from $10.3 million. The results are within …