Contact Energy shareholders hoping for news of a capital return or increased dividends got slim pickings from the company’s annual meeting in Christchurch, although chief executive Dennis Barnes had good news for customers, saying power prices were unlikely to rise anytime soon. Chairman Grant King told shareholders at last year’s annual meeting that an update on capital returns or dividend …

Japanese financial giant Bank of Tokyo is opposing the debt restructuring deal announced on Oct. 1 to help get state-owned coal miner Solid Energy back on its feet, but may be forced to take the deal anyway, papers lodged with the Companies Office show. The Auckland branch of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ is recorded as the second-largest lender to Solid …

The building boom looming in Christchurch and Auckland in the next three years will inevitably put upward pressure on wages and prices in the construction sector and could spill over into general inflation, driving up interest rates and the kiwi dollar, the Reserve Bank says. The Auckland Housing Accord aims to free up enough land for 39,000 homes in the …