Uncategorized

Argosy Property, whose shareholders agreed to corporatise the company last year after buying out the ANZ Bank-owned manager, wants to raise up to $100 million to pay for two buildings housing long-term government tenants in Wellington. The new equity will come in two tranches, with $80 million raised from institutional and qualified investors and $20 million through a share purchase …

Hit single?Gangnam Style?by South Korean rapper Psy?the most viewed clip in YouTube?s history?may mark the start of a global shift in which the Asia/Pacific region?s cultural influence catches up to its economic and political importance, says researcher Dr Stephen Epstein. Epstein, Programme Director of Asian Studies in the School of Languages and Cultures at Victoria University of Wellington, is researching …

The New Zealand dollar held above 80 Australian cents ahead of the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last policy meeting amid speculation it has further interest rate cuts to come, narrowing the gap with kiwi rates. The New Zealand dollar traded at 80.04 Australian cents, near a two-month high, from 79.99 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The …

Wall Street gained as a meeting between US President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner at the White House today bolstered optimism a budget agreement will be reached soon. Wall Street took heart from the 45-minute gathering about which no further details were released. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.62 percent, the …

ANZ New Zealand, the country’s biggest bank, sold its eftpos terminal leasing unit, EFTPOS New Zealand, for an undisclosed sum to global payments firm VeriFone Systems. Once the deal is complete, VeriFone will supply electronic payment terminals and switching services in New Zealand, while ANZ will provide merchant acquiring services, which essentially is the processing of fund transfers. The deal …

Datacom Group, the Wellington-based IT services firm, doesn’t envisage any change in its direction after 35 percent shareholder New Zealand Post sold its stake to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. State-owned postal service NZ Post has sold its share for $142 million, reaping a net gain of $76.4 million. The sale of shares in Datacom “is a move out of …

New Zealand’s services sector growth slowed last month after a surge in activity in October, and is another indicator underlining what’s been a tepid economic recovery. The BNZ-Business New Zealand performance of services index fell 4 points to 54.1 in November. A reading above 50 indicates a sector is growing and a reading below 50 indicates contraction. The survey comes …

The New Zealand dollar looks set to breach 85 US cents for the first time in 15 months provided third-quarter growth figures don’t disappoint and Washington remains stalled on fiscal cliff talks. The kiwi dollar recently traded at 84.60 US cents from 84.56 cents in New York on Friday. The trade-weighted index rose to 75.45 from 75.31. The local currency …

New Zealand consumer confidence rose as households’ pessimism about the state of their own affairs was the least gloomy in five years. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose 8.6 points to 111.1 in the December quarter, the highest level since September last year. A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists. The present conditions index rose 6.2 points …

The Reserve Bank has approved Heartland New Zealand’s application to be a licensed bank, ending a long wait for the lender. The central bank said Heartland has become New Zealand’s 22nd registered bank in a brief statement. Securing a banking licence has been a key plank of Heartland’s strategy in a shift away from a new regulatory regime that imposed …