Business Desk

The New Zealand dollar advanced as traders who had bet on the currency’s decline took profits ahead of the Reserve Bank interest rate decision tomorrow. The kiwi rose to 66.32 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 65.89 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index gained to 70.37 from 70.21 yesterday. The Reserve Bank is expected to cut the official cash …

By Fiona Rotherham July 22 (BusinessDesk) – Shareholders of AWF Madison Group, the country’s largest recruiter and labour provider, have voted in favour of a $150,000 increase in the directors’ fee pool at the annual general meeting in Auckland today to cover an enlarged board and give long-time directors their first pay rise in five years. The annual pool will …

Kiwi cereal maker Smartfoods is about to shift into a new factory that will treble production capacity as part of a five-year plan to boost revenue to $50 million from $15.7 million by jumping on a trend towards healthier eating. Smartfoods, which has around 50 staff, has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 36.5 percent since its first …

The New Zealand dollar rose as high as 66 US cents overnight after Prime Minister John Key told reporters at his weekly post-Cabinet press conference that the local currency had fallen faster than expected. The kiwi was trading at 65.67 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 65.61 cents at 5pm yesterday and 65.12 cents immediately before the 4pm press conference. …

The foreign owners of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter have had discussions with Finance Minister Bill English about further sweeteners to keep the New Zealand’s most energy-intensive industrial plant open and been told there is no scope for further assistance, says Prime Minister John Key. The smelter’s majority owner, Anglo-Australian metals giant Rio Tinto, wrung $30 million in cash out of …

The New Zealand dollar may advance this week as the Reserve Bank disappoints some traders positioned for an aggressive interest rate cut of 50 basis points by limiting its reduction to a quarter-point. The kiwi may trade between 63.50 US cents and 67.05 cents, according to a BusinessDesk survey of 11 currency advisers. Six expect the kiwi to gain, four …

New Zealand’s services sector, which accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, was at its most buoyant level in 11 months in June. The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of services index rose 0.1 point to a seasonally adjusted 58.2 last month, its highest level since July 2014, and extending a run of continuous expansion since October 2009. All of the five sub-indices …

Summerset Group, New Zealand’s third-largest listed retirement village operator, has bought land in Warkworth, enabling it to extend its existing village. The Wellington-based company bought an extra 2.4 hectares, which would allow it to build 77 retirement units adjacent to its existing Summerset Falls village, it said in a statement. The current village has 220 residents and is almost complete, with a …

Sharemarket analysts are expecting a slew of profit upgrades and new commentary from stock exchange-listed exporters in the upcoming earnings season following the recent slump in the value of the New Zealand dollar, says Andrew Bascand, the managing director of Wellington-based funds manager Harbour Asset Management. Among likely beneficiaries are businesses such as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, Nuplex Industries, Xero …

Wall Street is set to sustain recent gains after the Nasdaq closed at a record high on Friday, amid better-than-expected earnings from companies including Google, and US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen’s comments that rate increases will be moderate. IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo and Morgan Stanley are among the companies scheduled to release their latest earnings in the coming days. “We’re …