New Zealand building consents fell 1.5 percent in October, snapping four monthly gains, with Canterbury and apartments underpinning new permits and issuance up markedly on the previous year. The number of new dwellings consented fell to a seasonally adjusted 1,519 in October from 1,543 a month earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. Stripping out apartment issuance, which tends to vary …

Two American investors have increased their interest in cloud accounting software provider Xero by a total of $82 million, of which $60 million is newly issued capital and $22 million is to purchase of shares from its three largest shareholders. The $22 million is split three ways between director Craig Winkler, chief executive Rod Drury, and co-founder Hamish Edwards, who …

Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund units soared as much as 22 percent on their NZX debut as investors leapt at the chance to get access to the dairy exporters’ earnings stream, though no farmers used the scheme to trade their own shares. The units jumped as high as $6.71 from the $5.50 offer price set in this week’s book-build in a flurry …