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New Zealanders’ retail spending on credit, debit and store cards dropped last month, the first decline since March, led by furniture, hardware, appliances and clothing. Retail spending on electronic cards fell 0.8 percent seasonally adjusted in September, the biggest decline since July last year, when spending fell 1 percent, according to Statistics New Zealand. Core retail sales, which exclude vehicle …

Infratil named Mark Tume as acting chairman after announcing yesterday that David Newman had taken medical leave. Tume has been an independent director of Infratil since 2007 and is chairman of its audit and risk committee. Fellow director Paul Gough will now chair the committee, the company said. Newman, who has been chair since 2004, is also taking a leave …

Motor Trade Finance, which has a lending book of about $460 million, said it intends to appeal a High Court judgement that some fees in its loan contracts were unreasonable. “Motor Trade Finance is disappointed with the decision that some fees were considered unreasonable and considers that the court’s narrow basis for that finding does not recognise normal commercial practice,” …

Insured Group, whose shares last changed hands more than five months ago, was suspended from trading on the New Zealand stock exchange for failing to provide its annual report on time. The Australian insurer used the shell of failed finance company Lombard Group for a backdoor listing on the exchange in 2010. It has been late filing its annual report …

Smartpay shares have jumped to a two-year high after fund manager Milford Asset Management disclosed a 6.3 percent stake in a bet on the potential for the restructured eftpos company to repeat its New Zealand success in Australia. SmartPay climbed as much as 2.6 percent to 39 cents, the highest since July 2011, having soared 23 percent yesterday. The company …

Sky Network Television has been let off with a warning for allegedly anti-competitive clauses in its contracts with resellers of its broadcast content because the Commerce Commission says it would cost too much to prosecute for breaches that are not relevant to future behaviour. However, Sky TV will face no prohibition on including the same clauses in future contracts, as …

nfratil chairman David Newman has stepped down from the board of the infrastructure investor for a period of medical leave. Newman, who has been chair since 2004, will also take a leave of absence of Wellington International Airport, where he is also chairman, and from his director’s role at Infratil Airports Europe, the company said in a statement. He has …

Abano Healthcare, the specialist medical investor, is calling on a consortium mounting a hostile takeover bid to put a price on the audiology unit it plans to dump for a nominal value if the acquisition succeeds. The healthcare firm’s board has requested the bidders, made up of the company’s biggest shareholder and former director Peter Hutson, Australian private equity firm …

The New Zealand dollar advanced against its Australian counterpart ahead of business confidence surveys in both countries today which may show the divergent paths of the two economies. The kiwi rose to 88.22 Australian cents at 8am in Wellington from 87.95 cents at the 5pm market close yesterday. The local currency advanced to 83.30 US cents from 82.85 yesterday. The …

US stocks fell, while Treasuries rose, amid continuing concern about the ongoing impasse over US federal government funding and the potential risk of a debt default. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.57 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index shed 0.49 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.68 percent. Declines in Visa, …