Business Desk

John Key will have plenty on his plate this coming week. National has been on the backfoot since Labour blindsided it with its release of leaked Barfoot & Thompson data suggesting that Chinese investments comprised a disproportionate number of recent Auckland housing sales. Particularly those over the $1 million mark. While Key has been off on his holiday jaunt in …

The sharp Kiwi economist who’s done some of the best analytics in the New Zealand/China economic relationship is contemplating a switch to running a business. NZ INC. hopes Shamubeel Eaqub stays engaged in the China space. There’s plenty of contentious issues on the table right now that could do with indepth analysis. Businessdesk earlier reported: Outspoken economist Shamubeel Eaqub is …

Steel & Tube Holdings rose after the country’s biggest steel distribution company said it’s agreed to buy fastener distributor Manufacturing Suppliers for $32 million in a cash and scrip deal. The Petone-based company will pay $26 million in cash and $6 million in shares for Auckland-based MSL, which is best known for its Fortress Fasteners brand, which Steel & Tube will …

Federated Farmers says top management should be leaving Fonterra Cooperative Group if results don’t start improving in the next couple of years. The comments, from Fed Farmers dairy chair Andrew Hoggard were in response to the confirmation today by the world’s largest dairy exporter that it will cut 523 jobs to save up to $60 a million a year on its payroll …

Dairy product prices sank in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, paced by cheddar and whole milk powder, reflecting a sombre outlook. The GDT average winning prices sank 10.7 percent to US$2,082, down from US$2,276 at the previous auction two weeks ago. It was the lowest level since July 2009. Some 31,691 tonnes of product was sold, down from 33,200 tonnes of …

Pushpay Holdings, the mobile payments app developer, boosted revenue 39 percent in the first quarter as growth in its US faith-based merchants offset a decline in its SMS business. Total annualised committed monthly revenue was $12.8 million at June 30, up from $9.2 million three months earlier, the Redmond-based company said in a statement. Merchant ACMR, which tracks its clients who use the PushPay …

New Zealand shares fell in a widespread selloff as China’s stock market extended its tumble.  Xero, Trade Me Group, SkyCity Entertainment Group and Westpac Banking Corp declined. The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 35.47 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5767.7. Within the index, 30 stocks fell, nine rose and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $177 million. The Shanghai SE Composite Index was down 3.8 percent …

NZX, which is New Zealand’s only registered stock market operator, “strongly opposes” a bid by share trading platform Unlisted to be exempted from new licensing requirements, saying its lack of basic shareholder protections could tarnish the reputation of the country’s capital markets. Unlisted is petitioning Commerce Minister Paul Goldsmith for an exemption from being licensed by the Financial Markets Authority, as required …

OceanaGold Corp, which is in the process of buying the Waihi Gold Mine, sees more life in the Macraes Goldfield in Otago as cheaper fuel and a weaker New Zealand dollar make the operation more attractive. The Melbourne-based company discovered a new zone of gold mineralisation which could increase the potential reserves of the Macraes mine after embarking on a …

The number of Auckland house sales were at the highest in 11 years for a June month, while falling from May as winter starts to slow activity, according to Barfoot & Thompson. The city’s biggest realtor sold 1,167 houses in June, down from 1,225 in May, though 13 percent more than the same month a year earlier, it said in a statement. New …