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The Bank of New Zealand is increasingly concerned the economy is grinding to a halt following today’s confirmation in the ANZ Bank Business Outlook survey of slumping business confidence. “As each day passes, the likelihood of our alternative scenario, of an economy stumbling to near-recession, increases,” said head of research Stephen Toplis in analysis released at much the same time as …

The New Zealand dollar fell after figures showed business confidence sank to a six-year low this month, stoking speculation the Reserve Bank will be prepared to make deeper cuts to interest rates to revive an economy showing little sign of accelerating inflation. The kiwi fell to 64.21 US cents as at 5pm, in Wellington, from 64.53 cents at the New York close on …

Allied Farmers posted an 88 percent drop in annual profit after an overhaul of the business increased the firm’s tax bill, and as its profitable livestock unit was held back by the slowing dairy sector. Net profit attributable to shareholders dropped to $128,000, or 0.12 cents per share, in the 12 months ended June 30, from $1.02 million, or 1.03 …

Landcorp Farming, which is taking on debt to convert former forestry land into dairy farms, won’t pay a dividend this year, highlighting the friction between the state-owned farmer’s long-term strategy and the government’s demand for regular payments in preference to investment. New Zealand’s largest corporate farmer posted an 84 percent decline in annual profit to $4.9 million, in line with its forecast of $1 million …

New Zealand’s trade deficit was smaller than expected in July as exports of fruit and meat drove overseas sales higher, and offset flat dairy export receipts. The trade deficit narrowed to $649 million in July from $943 million a year earlier, and was smaller than the $755 million shortfall predicted in a Reuters poll of economists. Exports climbed 14 percent …

SkyCity Entertainment Group may raise more capital selling notes in the US private placement market after completing the sale of as much as $125 million of seven-year bonds next month that it plans to use to repay bank debt. Standard & Poor’s today assigned a BBB- rating to the casino operator’s bond sale, which is to open on Sept. 3 and close on Sept. 22. That matches …

The Icehouse will tack another medal onto an already-decorated body of work this week: Adherium will become the first of the incubator’s alumni to cross the listing threshold. A digital health technology company whose focus is to addresss the sub-optimal medication use in chronic disease, Adherium is now listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). On top of that, the …

The biggest selloff in stock markets in at least four years, slumping commodity prices and a surge in Wall Street’s fear gauge don’t mean the world economy is heading for another global financial crisis, fund managers say. New Zealand shares followed Wall Street and European equity markets lower for a second day, with the S&P/NZX 50 Index down 1.7 percent …

HRL Morrison & Co subsidiary JIDA Capital Partners and Shenzhen-based CGN Private Equity Fund Management have raised 1.87 billion Chinese yuan (NZ$451.7 million) from institutional investors to launch a new fund focusing on Chinese renewable energy assets. The unlisted private equity infrastructure fund, CGN Fund III, is seeking to raise 5 billion yuan, which it will mainly invest in operating …

SLI Systems widened its annual loss while sales met the reduced guidance it gave in April, after the online retail search engine developer reorganised its sales team and was impacted by a weaker Brazilian economy The Christchurch-based company reported a loss of $7.1 million in the year ended June 30, from a loss of $5.7 million a year earlier, it said in a statement. …