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and Alexander Speirs New Zealand’s oldest dairy co-op celebrated its centenary anniversary on Monday evening. Staunchly independent and refreshingly different, Tatua has evolved from a dairy company of 10 farmers to an international business with nearly 400 staff and revenue approaching $250 million. Based on the outskirts of Morrinsville in Central Waikato, CEO Paul McGilvary describes the company as being …

It’s high-stakes for Fonterra and its more than 10,000 farmer shareholders as the dairy cooperative tries to halt Danone’s multimillion-dollar action in the High Court at Auckland. The French food conglomerate wants compensation for alleged damages of the more than half a billion dollars it claims to have suffered as a result of last year’s botulism scare. The scare ultimately …

Lyttelton Port of Christchurch has disclosed a $1 billion development plan as rival Port of Tauranga signs one of the country’s biggest logistics groups up to its terminal in Timaru. Lyttelton wants to reclaim land to the east for a new container terminal. The public will have better access to the western side of the port where a new marina, …

Port of Tauranga has done a freight deal with the Fonterra Cooperative Group and Silver Fern Farms-led logistics company Kotahi and container shipping line Maersk that will facilitate the arrival of 6,500 TEU ships to New Zealand by the end of 2016. Kotahi has agreed to commit 2.5 million export containers to Maersk over ten years, giving the shipping company …

Ryman Healthcare, which posted a 43 percent jump in full-year profit in May, plans to build a $100 million retirement village in Pukekohe, the second development of that magnitude it has announced in as many months. The village on a 6.58 hectare site on Valley Road  is expected to open next year, the nation’s largest rest home operator said in a statement. …

The New Zealand dollar advanced after US economic reports raised concerns about the strength of the world’s largest economy, damping demand for the greenback. The kiwi rose to 87.28 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 86.78 cents at 5pm yesterday. The trade-weighted index touched a high of 81.26 overnight, close to the record 81.29 reached earlier this month, and …

Wall Street advanced as investors opted to focus on signs that the US economy has picked up, increasing their bets on the outlook, even as the final reading on first-quarter GDP showed a worse-than-expected contraction. US gross domestic product shrank at a 2.9 percent annual rate, the biggest drop in five years, following a previously reported 1.0 percent decline, in …

Shares in Warehouse Group touched an 18-month low as the stock was downgraded to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ by brokerage Craigs Investment Partners after the retailer cut its full-year earnings forecast, saying it was having to discount winter clothing and homewares because of warmer weather. Craigs analyst Chris Byrne cut his forecast for the retailer’s 2014 profit by 12 percent, the 2015 …

Australian state governments spent A$17.6 billion on subsidies for mineral and fossil fuel industries over six years, including A$8 billion to help transport coal, according to a report. The Australia Institute says it’s the first time state subsidies have been added up and they are on top of Federal subsidies, estimated at A$4.5 billion in 2013. The report reveals the …

Xero and Pacific Edge both fell to an eight-month low as investors freed up cash for upcoming listings by selling  growth stocks. Xero fell as low as $23 mid-morning before recovering back to $25.16. The Wellington-based cloud accounting software firm has fallen 46 percent in the past three months, from an intraday record of $45.99 in early March. Dunedin-based biotech company Pacific Edge declined 7.4 percent to an …