New Zealand business confidence rose to a 19-month high this month, with gains in all five sectors tracked as companies become more bullish about investment, profits and hiring. A net 39.4 percent of firms polled in the ANZ Business Outlook expect general business conditions to improve in the year ahead, up from 23 percent a month earlier. A net 38 …

Fisher & Paykel Appliances is to recruit 100 new, highly skilled staff over the next two years to boost the company’s strengths product research and development as it deepens its relationship with its Chinese owner, global whiteware supplier Haier. The plans call for a range of industrial engineers, designers and product developers to be split between the company’s two development …

The Commerce Commission says it is still working on its investigation into whether interest rate swaps were misleadingly marketed after claims from farmers that they got locked into confusing contracts with excessive break fees. The commission began its probe in August last year and has received 42 complaints since concerns over the way the financial derivatives were sold first aired …