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Insurance Australia Group may close all but one of its 22 State branches in New Zealand a bid to consolidate its national direct insurance network as more customers phone or turn online for assistance. The Auckland-based insurer will decide in mid-October whether to close the bulk of its branches, affecting 91 jobs, as 94 percent of its customers used its website or called for …

Heartland New Zealand director Gary Leech will retire from the lender’s board next month, after three years on the board including when the bank formed after the merger of Canterbury and Southern Cross building societies and Marac Finance. Leech will retire from the Christchurch-based lender at its annual general meeting on Oct. 31 as he looks to focus on his recent appointment to the …

Sealord, New Zealand’s second-largest fishing company, says it needs to downsize its Nelson wetfish processing plant and may eliminate 97 jobs in the face of rising costs, flat prices and a still-strong kiwi dollar. “In its current form, the wetfish factory is not economically viable, and we need to make improvements now to ensure Sealord’s ability to grow and invest in …

The Inland Revenue Department will appeal a High Court decison which found in favour of Vector over a $53 million payment relating to the Auckland electricity and gas network operator’s access rights to its Auckland CBD tunnel. Last month, Justice John Faire the High Court in Auckland’s declared payments made by national grid operator Transpower in relation to the underground tunnel, known as NSTC, …

Oil companies are forging ahead with a contingency plan to import more fuels into the country to minimise disruption if planned industrial action at New Zealand Refining goes ahead next month. BP external relations manager Jonathan Mills, speaking on behalf of the industry, said they were currently assessing how much fuel across all grades is being held in storage at the refinery, on …

The New Zealand dollar tumbled more than half a US cent after Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler invoked two of the conditions for the bank to intervene in currency markets, saying its strength was “unjustified and unsustainable” given the decline in commodity prices. Wheeler repeated the words he used in the July 24 official cash rate review in a statement titled: …

The Financial Markets Authority received fewer complaints in its 2014 financial year after the David Ross Ponzi investigation sparked a flood on inquiries in 2013, and had just 30 open cases at the end of the period. The financial markets watchdog received 839 complaints in the 12 months ended June 30, down from 1,273 a year earlier when investors in …

Pacific Edge, the medical biotech company, has been awarded a Japanese patent for its colorectal cancer screening technology, as the company looks to expand its range of diagnostic tests internationally. The shares rose on open. The Dunedin-based biotech is looking to commercialise its Cxcolorectal test in Japan, where colorectal is the nation’s most prevalent cancer, it said in a statement. The …

Would-be ironsands miner TransTasman Resources has been instructed by the High Court to come up with a far shorter, more focused appeal against the rejection of its application to mine the seabed in the Exclusive Economic Zone. At a chambers hearing on Tuesday, which media were allowed to attend, Justice Denis Clifford gave TTR’s counsel, Hugh Rennie QC, until Friday, …

Westpac Banking Corp and Kiwibank led earnings growth among New Zealand’s banks in the second quarter, as increased lending and wider margins propped up profits. Net profit across New Zealand’s banks edged down to $1.125 billion in the three months ended June 30 from $1.15 billion in the March quarter, though stripping out a one-off insurance settlement by Australia & New …