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Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units soared as much as 22 percent on their NZX debut as investors leapt at the chance to get access to the dairy exporters’ earnings stream, though no farmers used the scheme to trade their own shares. The units jumped as high as $6.71 from the $5.50 offer price set in this week’s book-build in a flurry …

The New Zealand dollar fell after US House of Representatives Speaker and senior Republican John Boehner dashed optimism politicians were getting closer to avoiding the fiscal cliff. The kiwi fell to 82.24 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 82.41 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index declined to 73.58 from 73.74 yesterday. Investors eschewed risk-sensitive currencies such as the kiwi and …

Underlining just how much in thrall of Washington global financial markets are right now, US stocks and the euro sold off after U.S. House Speaker and senior Republican John Boehner said there had been “no substantive progress” in talks to avoid the fiscal cliff. Boehner made the comments after speaking with President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, saying there …

The New Zealand dollar gained against its Australian counterpart after official figures showed business investment is slowing in Australia, which could be a key factor in its central bank interest rate decision next week. The kiwi rose to 78.75 Australian cents from 78.56 cents yesterday. It traded at 82.41 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 82.34 cents at 8.30am, …

Fonterra Cooperative Group’s Australia New Zealand managing director John Doumani will leave the dairy exporter after the company rejigged its regional boundaries. The cooperative, fresh from raising $525 million through its shareholders’ fund to reduce shareholder redemption risk, has reorganised its consumer businesses to combine Australia and New Zealand with the ASEAN/Middle East/North Africa unit, it said in a statement. …

Air New Zealand, the airline slated for a selldown by its government owner, has reiterated its target for full-year earnings to more than double, driven by a rebound in the first six months of the year. The shares rose after the announcement. The Auckland-based company first gave the forecast with the release in late August of its full-year results, saying …

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced Carolyn Burns, Tony O’Brien and Rob Fyfe will join Antarctica New Zealand’s management board. Professor Burns, a marine science expert, and Mr O’Brien, a media relations specialist, will begin their terms immediately. Mr Fyfe’s term will commence on 1 February 2013, once he steps down as CEO of Air New Zealand. Tenby Powell, a founder …

Rangatira, the Wellington-based investor that is adding the Rainbow’s End theme park to its portfolio, reported a 39 percent decline in first-half earnings, reflecting the ‘lumpy’ timing of work at its half-owned Contract Resources. Profit fell to $3 million in the six months ended Sept. 30, from $4.4 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. It kept …

Pyne Gould Corp, which sold its corporate trust unit September, is seeking returns of more than 15 percent over the next decade and doesn’t expect to ever pay dividends, according to chairman Bryan Mogridge. The company, 77 percent owned by managing director George Kerr, expects to sell its Perpetual trust and wealth management units before the year’s end, leaving it …

Sanford, the country’s second-biggest fishing company by sales, fell 6.7 percent after it took charges on restructuring its Coromandel mussel farm and legal fees for its unsuccessful defence of claims it dumped waste oil off American Samoa. Net profit fell to $20.9 million, or 22.3 cents per share, in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, from $22.3 million, or 23.8 …