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Australia’s Blood Sport, Politics: Turnbull Ousts Abbott

As the sun set in Canberra today, another Shakespearean-worthy political plot was thickening. Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s colleagues in his Liberal Party rallied around a former Goldman Sachs banker and the member of parliament from Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull. Members caucused and voted 54-44 to oust an increasingly unpopular Abbott and replace him with the country’s top polling politician, Turnbull. Turnbull …

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Genesis Energy in hunt for new CEO

Energy industry veteran Albert Brantley is to retire as chief executive of Genesis Energy at the end of the 2016 financial year, the electricity company’s chair, Jenny Shipley announced. Brantley was appointed to lead Genesis in 2008, replacing Murray Jackson, and has led a strategy that has ended Genesis’s role as a de facto generator of last resort, which saw …

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Steel & Tube on prowl – buys Aquaduct NZ out of receivership

Steel & Tube Holdings, New Zealand’s biggest steel distribution company, has continued its drive to grow through acquisitions, buying Aquaduct NZ out of receivership for about $8 million cash. Aquaduct was put into receivership in April after defaulting on its debt facilities with Westpac New Zealand, which was owed $4.97 million, according to a report by BDO’s Stephen Tubbs. Steel & …

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Mercer worst-performing stock on NZX this year

Mercer Group, the stainless steel fabricator and manufacturer, widened its annual loss after only one of its units turned a profit and it wrote down the value of its assets. The Auckland-based company posted a loss of $6.7 million, or 2.21 cents a share, in the 12 months ended June 30, from a loss of $457,000, or 0.17 cents, a year earlier, …

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John Key gets bank assurances after S&P warning over Auckland property market

Prime Minister John Key is confident the country’s lenders are strong enough to weather a downturn in Auckland if the property market in New Zealand’s biggest city has a correction. The country’s major lenders have assured Key their stress testing shows their respective loan books are strong enough to withstand a drop in Auckland property prices, which has been singled out …

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New Mega constitution paves way for listing after backdoor route closed

 Mega has updated its company constitution, making it easier for the file storage and encryption firm with more than 18 million registered users to list after a failed attempt to join the NZX through a back-door listing earlier this year. The company filed a new constitution to the Companies Office on July 6 which added specific provisions for listing the company, stating that the “board …

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While you were sleeping: Greece closer to exit

Equities dropped, while US Treasuries rose amid a safe-haven search, on concern Greece is headed for default and exit from the euro zone. Greece closed its banks and imposed capital controls, after negotiations between Greece and its international creditors imploded after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras issued a stunning call for a July 5 referendum on the latest bailout conditions. The …

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Bohannan resigns from Bathurst Resources

Hamish Bohannan has resigned from Bathurst Resources after five years leading a coal miner whose expansion has been put on hold pending a recovery in coal prices.   Bohannan joined Bathurst in 2008 and played a key role establishing the company as a coal producer and driving the heavily contested consenting process for its Escarpment project on the Denniston Plateau. The company has since restructured …

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