Uncategorized

A joint ministerial inquiry into the Fonterra Cooperative Group food scare will look at how the dairy exporter’s contamination occurred and whether the country’s regulatory regime is up to scratch, but won’t touch on questions of liability or the legislative structure of the dairy sector. Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye today released the draft …

MediaWorks NZ, the broadcaster whose banking syndicate is poised to take control, owed its lenders $528.3 million when they tipped it into receivership, according to the first receiver’s report. The Auckland-based company held total liabilities of $797.4 million against assets of just $329 million as at May 31, of which its banking syndicate was owed the bulk, receivers Brendon Gibson …

Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel’s New Zealand unit was able to limit a decline in annual earnings with cheaper coal costs and bigger export volumes of iron sands. The New Zealand and Pacific segment, which operates the Glenbrook steel mill, reported earnings before interest and tax of A$42.5 million in the 12 months ended June 30, from A$64.7 million a year …

New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries has revoked export certificates for four consignments of lactoferrin made by Westland Milk Products after unacceptable levels of nitrates were found in two batches. mobile spy android gps fail One batch was exported directly to China and a second was supplied to Tatua Cooperative Dairy Co before being shipped to China, the department said. …

Shares in Z Energy jumped 6.6 percent to near the top of its indicative price range in its NZX debut today, valuing the service station chain at $1.49 billion. The stock first traded at $3.73, up from its $3.50 initial public offering price, and recently traded at $3.71, a 6 percent premium to the IPO. The petrol station chain is …

PGG Wrightson, the rural services company controlled by China’s Agria Corp, took a $321 million charge to write off goodwill from its 2005 merger while posting a decline in operating earnings in line with guidance on the effects of this year’s drought. The net loss was $306.5 million in the 12 months ended June 30, from a profit of $24.5 …

APN News & Media, the Australasian publisher of the New Zealand Herald newspaper, returned to profit in the first half of the financial year as it sold assets and clamped down on costs, and is mulling the sale of its underperforming brandsExclusive retail website. The Sydney-based media group reported net profit of A$12.8 million, or 1.9 cents per share, in …

Transpower, the state-owned national electricity grid operator, will pay the government almost $295 million in dividends for this year after annual profit more than tripled. data entry online jobs The Wellington-based company, which isn’t among SOEs slated for partial privatisation, will pay a final dividend of $137 million to the government, adding to its special dividend of $65.7 million declared …

Managers at Fonterra Cooperative Group waited days before escalating a clostridium bacteria contamination that led to a global recall up to chief executive level, according to the dairy giant?s own operational review. As a result of the review, Fonterra is to create a new role of group director of food safety and quality, answering direct to the CEO. It will …

Fonterra Cooperative Group’s tainted food scare has claimed its first scalp with the resignation of NZ Milk Products managing director Gary Romano. Romano, who initially fronted for Fonterra to New Zealand media while chief executive Theo Spierings went to China, has resigned effective immediately, the dairy company said in a statement. Spierings will personally assume interim responsibility for the daily …