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New Zealand building consents issued by local councils for new homes rose 11 percent in November, boosted by apartment developments. New dwelling consents, including apartments, rose to a seasonally adjusted 2,267 in November from 1,891 in October, according to Statistics New Zealand. Excluding apartments, seasonally adjusted consents fell 0.5 percent. Last month, New Zealand’s Reserve Bank exempted new home building …

Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, will “vigorously defend” a claim by French food processor Danone over last year’s recall of whey protein concentrate. best essay writing services The Auckland-based company is working through Danone’s claim after negotiations for a commercial settlement failed. The French company will file papers in the High Court in Auckland today and has …

The New Zealand dollar dropped to a six-day low in the face of a stronger greenback following a better-than-expected employment report and after confirmation in the Federal Reserve minutes of its last meeting that it plans to continue tapering. The kiwi slid as low as 82.47 US cents following the 8am release of the Fed minutes from its meeting last …

Danone, the world's biggest yoghurt maker, has launched legal proceedings against Fonterra Cooperative Group over last year's whey protein concentrate recall and ended its existing supply contract with the New Zealand dairy exporter. The Paris-based food processing company is initiating proceedings in the New Zealand High Court and arbitration proceedings in Singapore “to bring all facts to light and to …

Wall Street was mixed as solid private jobs data heightened anticipation for the minutes of last month’s Federal Reserve meeting, scheduled to be released later today, to gauge the odds the improving labour market will accelerate the pace of tapering. In afternoon trading in New York today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.48 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 …

New Zealand shares rose as intelligence software firm Wynyard Group rallied for a second day, leading gains among tech stocks perceived to have strong growth prospects, including Xero, SLI Systems, Snakk Media and GeoOp. The NZX 50 Index gained 20.179 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4779.804. Within the index, 26 stocks rose, 19 fell and five were unchanged. Turnover was …

Shares in Wynyard Group soared to a new record on optimism about the global growth prospects for the company’s intelligence software. Wynyard shares jumped 11 percent to $1.48, adding to their 12 percent rise yesterday after the Auckland-based company announced it had gained the United Arab Emirates money exchange GCC Exchange as a client for its anti-money laundering software. Wynyard …

Toll Holdings’ New Zealand unit recognized a provision of almost $22.9 million in its dispute with the Inland Revenue Department over its use of convertible notes in 2013, a year that saw its annual loss widen by 69 percent as it wrote down the value of its Express Logistics acquisition. The Australian logistics group, which competes locally with NZX-listed Mainfreight, …

Auckland’s average house price rose to a record in December as property values benefited from a lack of supply heading into the peak summer season. The average sale price rose to $700,387 in December, from $684,646 in November and $624,015 in December 2012, according to realtor Barfoot & Thompson. The median price rose 1.2 percent from November to $629,000 and …

Yellow, the directories business seized by its bankers in 2011, is confident it will continue to comply with its debt covenants after gaining waivers for 2014 and will be able to refinance some $414 million of debt due next year. NZ Directories Holdings, which owns the Yellow business, narrowed its net loss of $12.5 million in the year ended June …