New Zealand agribusinesses looking for investors will be able to turn to crowdfunding once new legislation comes into effect in April. The agribusiness-focused crowdfunding platform, Snowball Effect, is the first of its kind in New Zealand, and intends to give small to medium sized businesses access through their website to funding from investors looking for equity. Snowball Effect’s launch coincides …

Auckland’s average house price slipped in January, reflecting a seasonal slowdown following the Christmas and New Year holiday period. The average sale price fell 7.6 percent to $647,207 from a record in December, although it is 7.7 percent ahead of January last year, according to realtor Barfoot & Thompson. The median price fell 7.8 percent to $580,000 from December. “This …

Vodafone New Zealand is likely to target Telecom Corp’s remaining Sky Network Television customers to increase its market share as the agreement between Telecom and Sky comes to an end in the next few months. The decade-long agreement for Telecom to resell Sky’s pay TV service will end May 31, the Auckland-based companies said today. Telecommunication providers sell products such …

David Ellis, the biggest spender at New Zealand’s premiere Karaka horse sales this year, says the tax department is stifling new investment in the bloodstock industry with its interpretation of depreciation rules. The value of yearling sales at Karaka in South Auckland have fallen in each of the past six years, reaching $69.7 million last month, down from $111.2 million …

Lower quality and higher costs have been experienced as a result of outsourcing, 44 percent of public service workers say in the latest New Zealand Productivity Pulse from accounting firm Ernst & Young. The survey suggests the gap between productivity levels in the public sector compared to the private sector totals around $280 million a year. EY also found public …

Electricity companies are absorbing nearly twice as much new cost as they’re passing on to their customers as the retail market for power becomes increasingly competitive, the industry’s regulator, the Electricity Authority, says. Analysis from the EA says the costs facing a theoretical stand-alone retailer have risen faster than residential prices since September 2010, when the authority’s pro-competition agenda started …

New Zealand’s unemployment rate fell to a three-year low in the fourth quarter of 2013 as jobs growth beat expectations, led by gains in the retail, accommodation and hospitality sectors. The unemployment rate fell to 6 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, in line with the forecast by a Reuters survey of economists, and down from 6.2 percent …

Kathmandu, the outdoor clothing chain, named David Kirk as chairman, replacing John Harvey, who took up the role after the death of former chair James Strong in early 2013. The new position adds to Kirk’s existing role as chairman of Trade Me, which he has held since the auction website listed in 2011. He was appointed to Kathmandu’s board as …

Apple Sales New Zealand, the local unit of the iPad and iPod maker, almost doubled annual profit on largely flat sales, while extracting a dividend that eclipsed earnings. Net profit jumped to $10.5 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 28, from $5.5 million a year earlier, while sales slipped 1.5 percent to $565.6 million, according to the company’s financial …

Sky Network Television, New Zealand’s dominant pay television operator, will no longer resell its service through Telecom Corp., the nation’s largest phone company. The companies have agreed to end the resale agreement, which saw Sky’s television service sold in a bundle with Telecom’s phone services, the Auckland-based TV company said in a statement. Telecom customers who take the TV services …