Electricity and gas consumers will be about $33 million a year better off if a draft decision by the Commerce Commission to reduce the returns allowable to monopoly electricity and gas network owners and national grid operator Transpower is upheld, although the impact at the household level will be tiny. The commission released a draft decision on the long-running battle over the appropriate weighted average cost …

Moa Group, the unprofitable boutique beer maker, increased first quarter sales volumes 95 percent after moving to a more direct distribution structure in New Zealand, its largest market. Beers sales volumes rose to 264,000 litres in the three months ended June 30, from 135,000 litres in the year earlier period, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Moa didn’t detail its first quarter …

The New Zealand dollar slipped as investors weigh the negative signs of a slowing economy against the lure of rising interest rates. The kiwi edged lower to 86.89 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 87.12 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index declined to 80.91 from 81.05 yesterday. The New Zealand dollar fell last week following more upbeat testimony from Federal Reserve …