Stephen Smith, former director of the failed Belgrave Finance, has pleaded guilty to 25 charges of fraud related to the collapse of the company in 2008. Smith pleaded guilty in the High Court in Auckland to 25 charges, including 19 under the Crimes Act of theft by a person in a special relationship, four charges of false statement by promoter, …

New Zealand consumer prices rose in line with expectations in the first three months of the year, led by more expensive cigarettes and tobacco from rising excise duty and higher costs for prescription medicines. The consumers’ price index increased 0.4 percent in the three months ended March 31, matching the consensus forecast among economists, for an annual pace of 0.9 …

Guinness Peat Group, which expects to rebrand itself as UK threadmaker Coats later this year, anticipates it will reap 92 million pounds from its latest round of asset sales. The London-headquartered will have raised 129 million pounds from assets sales and capital returns this year, taking its total cash raised to 587 million pounds since embarked on liquidating its portfolio …