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Chorus, the telecommunications network operator, will ask shareholders to hike the pool for directors’ fees 12 percent if it needs to bolster its board as it tries to limit the impact of regulation on its revenue streams. Shareholders will vote on Oct. 29 in Wellington on whether to increase the pool to $1.1 million from $980,000 set in 2012 after …

The New Zealand dollar fell to a year low as it declined along with other commodity currencies on concern about slowing growth in China and cemented that low after Fonterra Cooperative Group cut its forecast payout to farmers. The kiwi fell to 80.40 US cents after Fonterra’s 8.30am announcement, its lowest since September last year. The dairy exporter cut the …

Health-care stocks including Medtronic fell after the US Treasury Department said it plans to rein in corporate tax inversions. A corporate inversion is a transaction in which a US-based multinational restructures so that the US parent is replaced by a foreign parent, in order to avoid US taxes. In the US, shares of Medtronic fell 3.3 percent and shares of …

SLI Systems co-founders Geoff Brash and Steve Marder were two of the initial shareholders of the search engine developer who sold some 6.8 percent of the company at the end its 16-month lock-up period at 23 percent below last year’s offer price in a placement largely made up of institutional investors. Brash, vice president of SLI’s business intelligence, halved his stake to now hold 1.2 million …

New Zealand shares rose as energy companies extended yesterday’s gains after the incumbent National-led government’s convincing general election win on Saturday, lifting the threat of further regulation for the power sector. Kathmandu Holdings fell after reporting a decline in annual earnings. The NZX 50 Index rose 5.151 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5241.443. Within the index, 23 stocks rose, 16 fell and 11 were …

The New Zealand dollar, which has dropped along with other so-called commodity currencies on concern China’s economic growth is slowing, held near its lowest levels in seven months before Fonterra Cooperative Group’s annual results, which may include a cut to its payout forecast. The kiwi traded at 81.25 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, from 81.28 cents at the start of the day …

Prices for beef used in hamburger patties in the US are likely to hold at elevated levels after surging to a record in the past year as drought-ridden American farmers rebuild their herds, boding well for kiwi farmers, an analyst says. The price for US imported 95CL bull beef, the raw ingredient for meat patties, has surged 59 percent to US$3.18 a pound in the past year, …

The Official Assignee has filed papers in the High Court opposing the automatic discharge of high-profile property developer Terry Serepisos from bankruptcy next month. The government agency, which administers all bankruptcies, filed a notice in the High Court in Wellington objecting to the lifting of Serepisos’s bankruptcy, a spokesman said in an emailed statement. “This means that he will not …

Kathmandu Holdings, which today posted a 4.5 percent decline in annual profit, said Australasian earnings should rise in the coming year although overall profit at the outdoor equipment retailer may be dented by investment spending. Net profit fell to $42.2 million, or 20.8 cents a share, in the year ended July 31, from $44.2 million, or 21.9 cents, a year earlier, the Christchurch-based …

GeoOp chief executive Leanne Graham has resigned 11 months after the small business app developer listed on the New Zealand Alternative Index and will take a new role with the company leading its push into the US. The shares dropped 11 percent. Graham will move to the US to become executive strategic adviser for America, which currently makes up 8 percent of the company’s customer base, the …