Business Desk

The Supreme Court has rejected a bid by two Christchurch firms to appeal a decision relating to the way Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee used his powers over land zoning in Christchurch, saying it would be “inappropriate” for the bench to give advisory opinions on how minsters exercise their powers. Independent Fisheries and Clearwater Land Holdings were seeking leave to …

Diligent Board Member Services sees major growth opportunities in Europe where companies haven’t jumped on to the Boardbooks bandwagon, but still hasn’t decided what to do with its growing pile of cash. The New York-based firm, whose software helps company directors manage corporate governance information flows, lifted sales 84 percent to US$15.1 million in the three months ended March 31, …

The receivers of failed construction firm Mainzeal are weighing up their options to get the best price for Mainzeal House on Auckland’s Victoria St. PwC’s Colin McCloy and David Bridgman “are currently considering the best way to realise the property,” which is valued at some $12.3 million, according to their first report on 200 Vic Ltd, a Mainzeal entity. The …

Steven Joyce today welcomed the launch of a New Zealand television documentary series: Dragons in the Land of the Long White Cloud in Beijing. The series promotes New Zealand as an education destination for Chinese students, giving prospective students and their families an insight into what life as an international student is like. “Taking a snapshot of New Zealand into …

A fresh round of earnings will set the tone for Wall Street after US stocks posted their largest weekly slide of 2013 on mounting evidence the recovery has slowed. A much weaker-than-expected monthly jobs report on Friday capped a week of disappointing data on the American economy which has raised concern about corporate earnings with Alcoa, JP Morgan Chase and …

Proposed changes to the Resource Management Act are a timid, missed opportunity and are “unlikely to contribute to the Prime Minister’s goal of making New Zealand ‘a magnet for investment’,” says BusinessNZ. The peak business lobby group says a discussion paper issued on Feb. 28 by Environment Minister Amy Adams fails to consider the erosion of private property rights that …

The Financial Markets Authority says directors of the failed Blue Chip property investment group may yet face criminal charges as the regulator awaits the outcome of two lawsuits brought by investors. The FMA has been reviewing the case after a Supreme Court decision last year agreed with a group of investors that Blue Chip’s investment scheme marketing between 2005 and …

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, …

Pyne Gould Corp, the South Island asset management firm controlled by George Kerr, has sold the bulk of its Perpetual businesses to Australian research and management group van Eyk Research. The Christchurch-based group has sold Perpetual Asset Management and Perpetual Portfolio Management, though hasn’t included Perpetual Trust as previously indicated. The sale was flagged in January, and would see Pyne …

he New Zealand dollar gained against the greenback and the euro as stronger-than-expected growth figures yesterday made the local economy a standout in a world of sluggish growth and data showed euro-zone manufacturing shrank further. The kiwi rose to 83.30 US cents from 82.73 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted index rose to 76.48 from 76.16. The New …