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Moa Group, the unprofitable boutique beer maker, increased first quarter sales volumes 95 percent after moving to a more direct distribution structure in New Zealand, its largest market. Beers sales volumes rose to 264,000 litres in the three months ended June 30, from 135,000 litres in the year earlier period, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Moa didn’t detail its first quarter …

The New Zealand dollar slipped as investors weigh the negative signs of a slowing economy against the lure of rising interest rates. The kiwi edged lower to 86.89 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 87.12 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index declined to 80.91 from 81.05 yesterday. The New Zealand dollar fell last week following more upbeat testimony from Federal Reserve …

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a step backwards to the days before the World Trade Organisation when the the US and Europe controlled the global trading system to the detriment of developing economies, says a former director-general of the WTO, Supachai Panitchpakdi of Thailand. In New Zealand for a meeting of the honorary advisers to the Asia-New Zealand Foundation, Supachai told …

New Zealand Post, the state-owned mail delivery service, is wants to sell its Australian Couriers Please unit in its latest move to rejig its ailing business. The Wellington-based SOE has hired 333 Capital for the sale of the Australian courier business, which operates metropolitan delivery across the Tasman. Couriers Please has about 570 couriers and more than 130 staff, NZ …

Motor Trade Finances, the Dunedin-based auto-finance firm, rejected a takeover offer from Heartland New Zealand earlier this year, and is warning its shareholders to be wary of any communication from the bank. The finance company, which has a loan book of some $438 million, has been in talks with Heartland for a considerable period over a potential takeover bid, with …

The New Zealand dollar is in for a quiet start to the week as traders look ahead to the looming Reserve Bank decision on interest rates on Thursday where a hike is expected. The kiwi traded at 86.85 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 86.97 cents at the New York close and 86.77 cents at 5pm in Wellington on Friday. The …

New Zealand stocks fell as in a global sell-off as news of a passenger jet plane shot down over Ukraine and Israel’s invasion into Palestine’s Gaza strip spooked investors, driving demand for so-called ‘safe haven’ assets such as gold and bonds. Xero led the market lower, paced by fellow growth stocks. The NZX 50 Index fell 3.46 points, or 0.1 percent, to …

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 1.5 percent weekly drop against the greenback as a Malaysian passenger jet crash in rebel-held Ukraine and an Israeli ground invasion in Gaza sapped investors’ risk appetite in an environment where the local currency had already fallen out of favour. The kiwi fell to 86.78 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 88.10 cents on Friday in …

Ailing clothing retailer Postie Plus has been sold for an undisclosed sum as a going concern to Roan Ltd, a subsidiary of Pepkor, a South African-based investment group with clothing and footwear retail interests in Australia and Eastern Europe. News of the deal began to leak after staff received letters on Roan letterhead. Some 530 of the Auckland-based company’s 560 staff have …

New Zealand’s global innovation ranking has slipped from 17th to 18th, while Australia has jumped three places to 17th in rankings calculated for the 2014 Global Innovation Index, compiled by Cornell University. While New Zealand scores highly in areas such as political stability (3rd), investor protection (1st), effective government (9th) and regulatory quality (4th), the overall ranking is pulled down …