Todd Property Group, the property development arm of the country’s wealthiest family, has bought the beleaguered Pegasus Town development in North Canterbury out of receivership. The property unit said it expects to complete the Pegasus development in 2015, without disclosing how much it paid. The acquisition is Todd Property’s first in the South Island, and represents its confidence in Christchurch’s …

New Zealand shares fell for a second day, retreating from a five-year high as Chorus extended its slide on concerns about price regulation and Xero fell from a record high. The NZX 50 Index dropped 33.396 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4015.69. Within the index, 29 stocks fell, nine rose and 12 were unchanged. Turnover was about $190 million, with …

The New Zealand dollar followed its Australian counterpart higher after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a level not seen since 2009 in a bid to revive economic activity as the resources boom peters out. The kiwi rose to 82.29 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 82.04 cents immediately before the RBA announcement, and was up …

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its key rate a quarter point as expected, saying there’s a risk below-average global growth slows further while at home the labour market is subdued and capital spending on resources is peaking. The central bank lowered the cash rate to 3 percent from 3.25 percent to “help to foster sustainable growth in demand and …

Powdered dairy products exporter Synlait Milk has turned in a maiden profit of $6.3 million for the year to July 31 and expects to seek fresh capital from its two shareholders as it pursues “further strongly profitable opportunities.” The Dunsandel-based processor added a further 20 supplier farms during the year and processed a total of 498 million litres of milk …

Brazilian oil company Petrobras is to hand back exploration licences it holds for deep sea oil and gas prospects in the Raukumara Basin, off East Cape, in what appears a reaction to a string of difficulties which have seen the global scale oil major report losses for the first time in 13 years. Prime Minister John Key told reporters for …

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler has scotched claims by the Green Party that he has a bias in favour of the country’s Australian-owned banks, and defended statements saying the lenders’ return on equity is still below pre-crisis levels. Wheeler, who delivers his maiden monetary policy statement on Thursday, released bank profitability figures given to the Greens, which he used to …

ASX-listed streaming and on-demand video supplier Quickflix has cut a deal with Freeview to secure a channel on the free-to-air set-top-box. Quickflix, which has lost three board members and its chief executive in recent weeks, will launch a service on Freeview next year, offering ‘all you can view’ subscription offering as well as pay-per-view for new release titles, it said …

Investors in Ross Asset Management face a “gruesome legal fight” to recover their funds if investigations by regulators show fund principle David Ross was running a Ponzi scheme, says investor spokesman Bruce Tichbon. The receivers of the Ross group yesterday applied to the High Court to liquidate the companies and a hearing date has been set for Dec. 17. Receivers …

OceanaGold, which operates the Macraes gold mine near Dunedin, plans to raise up to C$108 million in a fully-underwritten share issue to repay debt and bolster its balance sheet. The Melbourne-based company has agreed to sell 30 million shares to a syndicate of underwriters for some C$93 million, with an option to buy up to an extra 15 percent, it …