Commercially troubled state coal miner Solid Energy requires an extension of a government guarantee to meet the $103 million future cost of returning mined land to its pre-mined condition in order to maintain positive equity in its balance sheet. The extension of the company’s remediation indemnity extends a similar deal made in 1987, when the then Labour government corporatised state coal mines …

Accounting firm PwC has taken the rare step of chastising another member of its own industry, ASX-listed Crowe Horwath, for understating by half the value of a settlement reached over the auditing of OPI Finance in the failed finance company’s receivership and breaking a confidentiality agreement on the deal. PwC, receivers for OPI Finance, said the settlement with Crowe Horwath was for …

PrimePort Timaru, the South Island hub which has aligned itself with Port of Tauranga, expects a turnaround in its fortunes as it benefits from its tie up with the country’s busiest export port. The Timaru port posted a 12 percent increase in profit to $1.9 million in the year ended June 30. It expects profit to rise further in 2015 as it benefits …