The Financial Markets Authority won’t chase South Canterbury Finance in a civil claim, saying it can’t justify the cost of doing so and leaving it to Crown Asset Management (CAML) to pursue the failed lender’s directors. The market watchdog today closed its inquiries into a potential civil claim against SCF, two days after former director Ed Sullivan was this week sentenced to …

Zespri International, the grower-owned kiwifruit marketing company, said it expects record per-hectare returns for green and green organic kiwifruit this season following supply constraints, favourable market conditions and strong end-of-season sales. Pre-hectare returns for green kiwifruit growers are forecast at $52,987 and green organic at $42,207. The increased grower returns are across all categories and Zespri chief executive Lain Jager …

The one-year delay forecast in the New Zealand government’s return to surplus doesn’t have any implications for its Aaa credit rating, with everything else going in the right direction, according to Moody’s Investors Service Yesterday’s half-year economic and fiscal update pushed out the Treasury’s expectation for a return to surplus, projecting the Crown’s operating balance before gains and losses to be …