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Financial Markets Authority chairman Simon Allen’s role in negotiating the government’s convention centre for pokies deal with NZX-listed SkyCity Entertainment Group was recorded as a potential conflict of interest, the regulator says. Allen, a former investment banker who has chaired the market watchdog since May 2011, took a key role in talks with the casino and hotel group, according to …

Goodman Property Trust, the largest property investor by market value on the NZX, expects to increase payments to unitholders by as much as 2.3 percent in 2014, and signalled further investments are likely. Pretax distributable earnings for 2014, a measure favoured by property investors as it strips out unrealised movements in property values, are expected to be between 8.2 cents …

Argosy Property, which recently bought two Wellington commercial properties, has raised $86.9 million in a rights issue and bookbuild to repay bank debt taken on for its recent acquisitions. The Auckland-based company sold 87.2 million shares at 89 cents apiece, or $77.6 million, to shareholders who exercised their rights in a 1-for-7 pro-rata renounceable offer, it said in a statement. …

MetService, the nation’s state-owned weather forecaster, paid $3 million for a 49 percent stake in privately owned New Zealand oceanographic consultancy MetOcean Solutions, giving it a foothold in a market worth more than $10 million. The purchase will allow Wellington-based MetService to expand its research capability and add customised oceanographic forecasting and consultancy expertise to its global offering. For MetOcean, …

Diligent Board Member Services, the governance app maker hit by a slew of administrative mis-steps, will restate how it has recognised revenue over the past three financial years, delaying publication of second-quarter trading, which it says will show slowing sales in the US. The New York-based company will restate financial statements for the 2010, 2011, 2012 financial years and the …

Wall Street slipped from record highs amid comments by a US Federal Reserve official that the central bank should start tapering its bond-buying program next month. In late afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.32 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index eased 0.20 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.07 percent. Declines in …

The New Zealand dollar recovered some ground on confidence trade with China would not be as severely affected as first thought by a food contamination scare at Fonterra Cooperative Group, the nation’s largest company. The kiwi rose to 78.05 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 77.71 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 74.04 from 73.81 yesterday. …

Fonterra Cooperative Group chief executive Theo Spierings has expressed regret at a Chinese media conference for consumer anxiety caused by revelations that batches of whey protein had been contaminated. The conference was broadcast live on the Reuters livestation website and translated into Chinese. The three contaminated batches were used in the manufacture of infant formula and sports drinks. “We regret …

The New Zealand dollar may decline this week as some traders deem its recent rise above 80 US cents as overdone and as potential damage to exports from a food contamination scare at dairy giant Fonterra Cooperative Group weighs on sentiment. The local currency may trade between 75.50 US cents and 80.60 cents this week, according to a BusinessDesk survey …

Postie Plus Group, the beleaguered clothing retailer, has appointed No 1 Shoes executive Richard Binns as its new chief executive. Binns will join the retailer on Sept. 16, replacing long-serving Ron Boskell who departed in January. He was previously general manager operations at Hellaby Holdings-owned No 1 Shoes, chief operating officer at Overland, and head of general merchandise at Warehouse …