State-owned coal miner Solid Energy’s plans for a multi-billion dollar new industry based on turning low-grade Southland lignite coal into diesel, fertiliser and burnable briquettes has been abandoned as the company struggles with mounting debts and low world coal prices. The new chairman of Solid Energy, Mark Ford, told Radio New Zealand the company could be profitable again with an …

Telecom Corp’s annual earnings face a material impact from a major overhaul of the business to become a data-driven and mobile-focused telecommunications operator, stripping out more costs and getting away from its old structure. Chief executive Simon Moutter told an analysts’ briefing that Telecom’s structure is still based on its vertically integrated history as both network owner and retailer, before …

Vital Healthcare, which invests in medical and healthcare properties, lifted distributable profit by 44 percent after completing three add-on building projects at existing Australian sites, boosting rental income. Distributable profit, the earnings measure it uses for distributions to unitholders, rose to $13.9 million in the six months ended Dec. 31, from $9.6 million a year earlier. Net property income rose …