New Zealand politicians are wary of racking up more criminal penalties on directors who breach their duties to companies and creditors, and have asked the government to take another look at pending legislation. Parliament’s commerce select committee supports Commerce Minister Craig Foss in taking another look at the drafting of legislation that would criminalise directors for breaching their fiduciary duties, …

Shareholders of TeamTalk, the owner of the CityLink fibre-optic broadband service, have voted in favour of the acquisition of Farmside Group for up to $42 million to extend its reach into rural areas. The Wellington-based company has agreed to buy Farmside for an upfront payment of $19 million in cash and $12 million in TeamTalk shares, with an additional $7 …

A lack of houses in New Zealand’s two biggest cities has driven up property values across the country and seen sale prices hit a new record-high. Property values rose 1.9 percent in the three months ended Nov. 30 and are 5.7 percent higher on an annual basis, according to government valuer Quotable Value. The figures come the same day Real …

Napier Port has overtaken Ports of Auckland to become the North Island’s second largest export port, its annual results show. The East Coast port’s annual report shows a 2 percent increase in exports to over 3.7 million tonnes, much of it being forestry-based products. Log volumes were close to 1 million tonnes. An 8.5% lift in the number of containers …

New Zealand retail spending on debit, credit and charge cards rose more than expected last month, stoking optimism for a fourth-quarter rebound in fourth-quarter sales after a surprise decline in the third quarter. Electronic card transactions rose 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted in November, following a 0.4 percent increase in the previous month, according to Statistics New Zealand. Actual sales rose …

The government’s second round of tenders for oil and gas exploration blocks has yielded 10 new exploration licences, including two in the previously unexplored Pegasus Basin to deep-sea exploration specialist Anadarko. The Pegasus Basin is south of the bottom tip of the North Island, and sees the Texas-based explorer adding to its existing suite of deep-sea territories in the Taranaki …

The government is committing to improving the quality of New Zealand’s natural resource base at the same time as pushing more intensive agriculture and more extraction of minerals, oil and gas to accelerate economic growth. The latest update on its economic growth agenda, released this morning by Finance Minister Bill English and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, appears to heed …

DNZ Property Fund chief executive Paul Duffy sold 9.9 percent of his stake in the property investor worth $1.65 million, cashing in as the share price tests record-highs since listing two years ago. Duffy sold 964,150 shares at an average price of about $1.625 last week, netting him $1.57 million, having sold 50,000 shares for $79,250, or $1.585 a share, …

L&M Energy chairman and creditor Geoff Loudon has drawn more than 80 percent acceptances for his takeover offer. Loudon’s New Dawn Energy has acceptance for 80.4 percent of L&M, according to a substantial shareholder notice yesterday. It needs to get to 90 percent to declare the offer unconditional. The company made its offer in October at 6 Australian cents a …

The New Zealand dollar was little changed above 83 US cents after testing the upper limits of its recent trading range as traders await this week’s meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers. cheap software downloads The kiwi dollar traded at 83.36 US cents from 83.31 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. It earlier reached 83.53 cents, a level it hasn’t seriously …