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A rebel shareholder group that attempted an unsuccessful takeover bid for Abano Healthcare has launched a campaign to unseat its chairman, Trevor Janes, in a coordinated attack that also questions decisions by NZX Regulation and a valuation by investment house Grant Samuel. Healthcare Industry and Steamboat Capital, which jointly hold some 19 percent of Abano shares, have also launched a …

New Zealand’s “buoyant” manufacturing sector expanded for the 19th consecutive month in March as domestic demand for goods and fast-growing Asian economies fuelled economic momentum through the first quarter of 2014. The employment index reached a seven-year high. The BNZ-BusinessNZ seasonally adjusted performance of manufacturing index increased to 58.4 in March, from an upwardly revised 56.5 in February, and 53 …

The New Zealand dollar jumped three quarters of a US cent against the greenback to its highest since July 2011 after the Federal Reserve minutes from its last meeting in March pushed out expectations of when the Fed will start raising interest rates. The kiwi jumped as high as 87.25 US cents from 86.47 cents immediately before the release of …

Wall Street rose, extending gains after the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes eased concern that US policy makers had been planning to raise interest rates sooner than had been anticipated. The Fed released minutes from the March 18-19 Federal Open Market Committee meeting were released at 6am New Zealand time. Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s comments at the end of that …

The law change allowing Telecom to carve out its Chorus network unit to participate in the government’s ultra-fast broadband scheme “was always going to drive a pricing sea-change” for the company’s regulated services, according to a High Court judge. Justice Stephen Kos today turned down an appeal by Chorus to have the regulator’s initial pricing principle (IPP) set aside, and …

The mining industry lobbyist, Straterra, is calling for improved administration of New Zealand’s environmental and minerals regulations and wants the low-impact activities of mineral prospecting and exploration made automatically permissible. However, Straterra is less convinced that major reforms to the Resource Management Act’s balance between environmental and economic influences will improve the lengthy and complex processes currently facing many mining …

Kuehne + Nagel International, the Swiss logistics company, has been fined $3.1 million plus costs for its part in the so-called “Gardening Club” freight forwarding cartel case brought by the Commerce Commission after an investigation begun seven years ago. Kuehne + Nagel was the last defendant in the case involving six firms, who referred to themselves as the “Gardening Club” …

New Zealand stocks fell for a second day, following Wall Street lower as a global tech sell off continued. Xero led the benchmark index lower, while Diligent Board Member Services, Wynyard Group, SLI Systems and GeoOp all fell. The NZX 50 Index declined 44.284 points, or about 0.9 percent, to 5031.56. Within the index, 29 stocks fell, 10 rose and …

The New Zealand dollar gained as volatility in equity markets failed to spill over into foreign exchange, and the kiwi remained an attractive buy on the prospect of higher interest rates later this month. The kiwi rose to 86.30 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 86.03 cents at 8am and 85.92 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 80.52 from 80.31. Traders are …

Postie Plus Group, whose stock has dropped 42 percent in the past 12 months, has met an extended deadline to post its first-half results, reporting a wider loss on supply chain disruptions and tough trading conditions for clothing retailers. The net loss was $3.8 million in the six months ended Feb. 2, from a loss of $1.8 million a year earlier, …