Uncategorized

Lower quality and higher costs have been experienced as a result of outsourcing, 44 percent of public service workers say in the latest New Zealand Productivity Pulse from accounting firm Ernst & Young. The survey suggests the gap between productivity levels in the public sector compared to the private sector totals around $280 million a year. EY also found public …

Electricity companies are absorbing nearly twice as much new cost as they’re passing on to their customers as the retail market for power becomes increasingly competitive, the industry’s regulator, the Electricity Authority, says. Analysis from the EA says the costs facing a theoretical stand-alone retailer have risen faster than residential prices since September 2010, when the authority’s pro-competition agenda started …

New Zealand’s unemployment rate fell to a three-year low in the fourth quarter of 2013 as jobs growth beat expectations, led by gains in the retail, accommodation and hospitality sectors. The unemployment rate fell to 6 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, in line with the forecast by a Reuters survey of economists, and down from 6.2 percent …

Kathmandu, the outdoor clothing chain, named David Kirk as chairman, replacing John Harvey, who took up the role after the death of former chair James Strong in early 2013. The new position adds to Kirk’s existing role as chairman of Trade Me, which he has held since the auction website listed in 2011. He was appointed to Kathmandu’s board as …

Apple Sales New Zealand, the local unit of the iPad and iPod maker, almost doubled annual profit on largely flat sales, while extracting a dividend that eclipsed earnings. Net profit jumped to $10.5 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 28, from $5.5 million a year earlier, while sales slipped 1.5 percent to $565.6 million, according to the company’s financial …

Sky Network Television, New Zealand’s dominant pay television operator, will no longer resell its service through Telecom Corp., the nation’s largest phone company. The companies have agreed to end the resale agreement, which saw Sky’s television service sold in a bundle with Telecom’s phone services, the Auckland-based TV company said in a statement. Telecom customers who take the TV services …

The New Zealand dollar jumped 1 US cent overnight as investors gained back some confidence in economic growth, favouring riskier assets such as equities and higher yielding currencies. The kiwi touched a week-high of 82.25 US cents and was trading at 82.16 cents at 8am in Wellington from 80.94 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 77.57 from …

Dairy product prices rose in the second GlobalDairyTrade auction in a row, led by butter and whole milk powder, while volumes continued to retreat. The GDT Price Index increased 0.5 percent from the last sale two weeks ago. The average winning price was US$5,042 a tonne from US$5,025 per tonne at the last auction. Some 35,399 tonnes of product was …

New Zealand stocks fell, tracking a global decline, as investors’ fears of faltering economic recovery were exacerbated by poor manufacturing data in the US, and China. Xero led the market lower, with Trade Me Group and Port of Tauranga pacing the decline. The NZX 50 Index dropped 46.883 points or about 1 percent to 4802.619, its lowest in three weeks. …

The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low 2.5 percent and dropped its reference to policy adjustments in favour of stability, a move seen as code for an end to its easing bias that sent its currency up about 1 US cent. “Monetary policy is appropriately configured to foster sustainable growth in demand and …