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Competition regulator the Commerce Commission has confirmed that gas distribution network owner Vector will have to cut its prices by 18 percent, and cut its wholesale gas transmission charges by 29.5 percent. The final determinations are in line with earlier drafts, and remain the subject of a High Court merits appeal led by Vector and supported by a range of …

Environment Minister Amy Adams has unveiled proposals for the most sweeping amendments to environmental and resource management law in a generation, including a much greater role for central government to direct local government decision-making. At the heart of the proposed changes to the 22-year-old Resource Management Act is a desire to see community input into appropriate resource use occurring at …

Guinness Peat Group’s shareholders will see a cash return once the investment firm has been rebranded into its biggest asset Coats, and the UK threadmaker is standing on its own two feet. The London-headquartered firm is firmly focused on getting rid of its last five assets and dealing with its UK pensions facing a shortfall in funding as it moves …

Air New Zealand, which is 73 percent state-owned, posted first-half profit that more than doubled after lifting passenger volumes and boosting yields on international routes, while keeping costs in check. Profit rose to $100 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $38 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based airline said in a statement. Operating revenue rose 3.4 percent …

Wall Street rallied for a second day as stronger-than-expected reports on US business spending and the housing market bolstered optimism about the sustainability of the economic recovery. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.94 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.09 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.14 percent. Orders for …

TeamTalk, which bought the rural telecommunications provider Farmside last year, has cut its annual earnings guidance, blaming the downgrade on the government-imposed levy to pay for servicing unprofitable customers in remote areas. The Wellington-based company made a net profit of $1.7 million, or 7.2 cents per share, in the six months ended Dec. 31, from $5.4 million, or 23.3 cents, …

The government will be racing the clock to try and sell up to 49 percent of state-owned electricity company MightyRiverPower now that the Supreme Court has dismissed attempts by Maori claimants to settle Treaty of Waitangi claims to freshwater rights first. The unanimous decision of the five judge full bench of the Supreme Court clears the last legal hurdle to …

Fonterra Cooperative Group farmers will get some breathing space in being fully ‘shared up’ after the world’s biggest dairy exporter announced a bonus issue of stock and offered more flexibility for those growing milk production. Fonterra shares, which trade on a closed market managed by the NZX, last traded at $7.17, or about 59 percent higher than the $4.52 fair …

MightyRiverPower, the first state-owned enterprise slated for a partial sale this quarter, has raised $100 million from institutional investors in two wholesale bond issues to repay debt. The electricity generator and retailer sold $75 million of six-year bonds paying annual interest of 5.029 percent and $25 million of 10-year bonds paying 5.793 percent annually, it said in a statement. The …

A jump in Americans arriving in New Zealand on cruise ships failed to arrest a 2.3 percent overall decline in the number of short-term visitors last month, with Chinese tourists tumbling by a fifth. Some 260,600 tourists visited New Zealand in January for a short-term stay, down from 266,800 a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. The decline came …