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Chorus, the telecommunications network operator spun out of Telecom, has signed contracts with Visionstream and Downer worth some $1 billion for those firms to build the nation’s ultrafast broadband network, and is still in talks with Transfield Services. The Wellington-based company inked two contracts each worth some $500 million over the next six years and include extra amounts for Downer …

The New Zealand dollar rose back above 85 US cents before figures that are expected to show a pick-up in quarterly inflation and after gains on Wall Street and a modest increase in dairy prices to a new record. The kiwi gained to 84.92 US cents, and earlier reached 85.06 cents, from 84.79 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The …

New Zealand shares fell, as weaker economic data from China and the US weighed on equity markets and commodity prices. OceanaGold, NZ Oil & Gas and Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund were among decliners. The NZX 50 Index fell 26.87 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4427.83. Within the index, 30 stocks fell, 11 rose and nine were unchanged. Turnover was $157 million. …

The New Zealand dollar recovered some of its losses after a plunge in gold and silver prices and the worst bombing on US soil since the 2001 World Trade Centre attacks sent jitters through already nervous global markets. The kiwi rose to 84.83 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.75 cents at 8am, though still down from 85.05 cents …

New Zealand wireless broadband provider Woosh Wireless has reported a $2.4 million loss for the 10 months to Aug. 31, with notes to the accounts disclosing the company relies on funding from its Californian-based 75 percent shareholder, Craig Wireless Systems, to meet its cash needs. TSX-listed CWS, in turn, warned investors last November that its own resources were strapped after …

New government spending in the May 16 budget will be skewed towards supporting fast-growth export businesses, Prime Minister John Key says. His announcement of a $158 million boost to tourism funding over four years is the first of several set-piece announcements of new government spending, which government Ministers will drip-feed to the public in the weeks leading up to the …

Prime Minister and Tourism Minister John Key said an additional $158 million over four years will be earmarked for tourism in next month’s budget. Key told a business audience in Wellington that he will announce details of the funding at the TRENZ tourism conference this week. It will be part of the budget’s theme for “a package of internationally focused …

The New Zealand dollar extended its slide, falling below 84 US cents as financial markets digested the implications of weaker-than-expected Chinese growth which has weighed on equity markets and commodities. The kiwi dollar fell to 83.91 US cents from 85.05 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted index fell to 77.27 from 78.16. China’s economic growth slowed to 7.7 …

Stocks on both sides of the Atlantic slumped along with commodities, as disappointing data from China, the world’s second-largest economy, sparked concern about the pace of global growth. China’s gross domestic product increased 7.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing. That’s down from 7.9 percent in the previous …

Kordia, the state-owned communications company, has sold internet service provider Orcon to a local business group led by Vivid Networks’ Warren Hurst. The price paid in the privatisation has not been disclosed. The deal closed on Friday, the state-owned enterprise said in a statement today. Buyer interest in the ISP intensified in recent months, and Kordia signalled a pending announcement …