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Shares in Trade Me have been halted as Australian publisher Fairfax Media sells its remaining 51 percent in the New Zealand online auction site. The shares have been halted to let a bookbuild take place for the sale of Fairfax’s shares, Trade Me said, without disclosing a price. Media reports have put the sale price at A$3.05 a share, a …

New Zealand Post, the state-owned postal service, agreed to sell its 35 percent stake in Datacom Group to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund for $142 million to repay debt and bolster its capital. NZ Post’s credit rating was cut to A+ from AA- in October as the state-owned enterprise searches for new revenue streams in the face of dwindling demand …

The New Zealand dollar rose to a four-year high against the yen after Japan’s Liberal Democratic party swept to power, mustering enough support to enact sweeping economic reforms and weaken the currency. The kiwi dollar jumped to 71.33 yen, the highest since September 2008, from 70.57 yen in New York on Friday. The kiwi traded at 84.54 US cents from …

The clock is ticking ever more rapidly as a budget deal between US Democrats and Republicans remains elusive, with less than two weeks before about $US600 billion of tax increases and spending cuts take effect, potentially pushing the world’s biggest economy into recession. Last week made clear that lawmakers have made little progress in talks and that is capturing the …

New Zealand economic growth probably slowed in the third quarter, as retail spending fell and agricultural production eased from its first-half highs, offsetting a strong pickup in construction activity. Gross domestic product grew 0.5 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30, according to a Reuters survey of nine economists, after a 0.6 percent expansion in the second quarter. Forecasts …

New Zealand shares were mixed, with Goodman Fielder and NZ Refining down ahead of their exit from the NZX 50 Index, while Ryman Healthcare, rated ‘outperform’ in a Reuters poll, led gainers. The NZX 50 rose 4.44 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3979.17. Within the index, 18 stocks rose, 26 fell and six were unchanged. Turnover was $156 million. The …

The New Zealand dollar is headed for a 3.1 percent gain against the yen this week as Japanese voters prepare to go to the polls in an election that’s expected to install a new government that backs unlimited monetary easing. The kiwi traded at 70.75 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 70.52 yen yesterday. The currency was little changed at …

A second unnamed NZX adviser has been fined over a rule breach related to auction site Trade Me’s $363.5 million initial public offering last December. The adviser must pay $16,000 to the NZX Discipline Fund plus costs, the regulator said in a statement. The breaches relate to both the Trade Me and Summerset IPOs last year. NZX regulation said the …

Jim Delegat, managing director of winemaker Delegat’s Group, has failed in a High Court attempt to recover payments on an incomplete yacht from a director of failed luxury yacht maker Salthouse Marine. Justice Mark Woolford ruled that Perth-based naval architect Christopher Norman didn’t breach his director’s duties under the Companies Act while a director of Salthouse between December 2008 and …

The Serious Fraud Office has lost the first round in it its bid to appeal a ruling clearing Capital + Merchant Finance directors Wayne Douglas and Neal Nicholls over the so-called ‘Hub loans’. In the High Court in Auckland, Justice Edwin Wylie turned down the Crown’s application for the judge to revisit three questions of law surrounding the Palmerston North …