Business

The New Zealand dollar traded close to parity with the Australian dollar amid speculation weak Australian inflation data today could push it through the historic milestone. The kiwi touched a record against the euro on concern about whether Greece will exit the common currency. The kiwi hit 99.59 Australian cents overnight and was trading at 99.51 cents at 8am in …

HSBC has singled out five macro themes for 2015. With disinflationary pressure rising, we lower our GDP and inflation forecasts for 2015 and 2016. Beijing will likely step up policy easing to stabilise the economy. We also expect the pace of key reforms to accelerate Both economic activity and inflation data have been weaker than we anticipated in recent months, suggesting rising …

Nuplex Industries, the specialty chemicals manufacturer, is exploring more investment opportunities across Asia, having shifted its businesses away from the firm’s traditional markets in Australia and New Zealand.  The Auckland-based company officially opened a US$35 million plant in China’s Changshu, and is already considering expansion plans for the site, where it holds a 50-year lease. The company was caught out …

A group of New Zealand primary sector firms has opened a joint marketing office in Shanghai, completing a three-year gestation to make life easier in breaking into the world’s second biggest economy.  Primary Collaboration New Zealand officially opened its office in one of China’s major cities yesterday in what chairman Andy Borland hopes will give local firms a foothold in what’s seen as …

Kiwa Digital Ltd (KIWA), a world leading production house for experiential digital books based in New Zealand, is to deliver interactive cartoon stories to mobile devices in China. In a breakthrough international publishing and licensing agreement with leading Chinese television company, Beijing Kaku Media, KIWA will bring popular children’s characters to life digitally in the Chinese language. The agreement was …

Innovation is the lifeblood of the New Zealand economy. In the 2015 Innovation report, we investigated how California continued to drive evolution as competition for entrepreneurs heightens. We drew lessons from some of the world’s most innovative US companies and talked to New Zealand trailblazers there. We examined NZ innovation trends from software through to clean-tech and green-tech and looked …

MightyRiverPower, whose first half earnings slumped as it wrote down the value of assets and exited its international geothermal interests, said its gas-fired Southdown power station will close at the end of the year in response to growth in renewable generation. The 140-megawatt Southdown station in Auckland had played a small role in MightyRiverPower’s portfolio the past two years, representing just …

By Fiona Rotherham March 16 (BusinessDesk) – Indian billionaire Nandan Nilekani says scale is a problem New Zealand companies need to overcome to crack the growing Indian market. Nilekani has been twice named by Times magazine as one of the world’s 100 most influential people and is the former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which is …

Michael Kidd, a former partner of high-flying businessman Alex van Heeren in ventures including the Huka Lodge, is seeking a US$25 million interim payment in a long-running dispute over the division of assets when their 16-year business partnership ended in 1991. In an interlocutory hearing in the High Court at Auckland, South Africa-based Kidd is seeking both the interim payment and a …

Proud New Zealander David McLean has been appointed chief executive of Westpac New Zealand after performing an “outstanding” job acting in the role since August 2014 following the resignation of Peter Clare. McLean’s appointment will be highly popular with bank executives and staff. A “people person” he is credited with bringing the bank together again after a bruising period under …