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Insurance Australia Group has agreed to buy the New Zealand and Australian underwriting businesses of Wesfarmers for A$1.85 billion, to bolster its position in the two markets. IAG would acquire Wesfarmers’ WFI and Lumley Insurance brands as well as a 10-year distribution agreement with Coles, it said in a statement today. The insurer will fund the transaction via a fully-underwritten …

The New Zealand dollar may have a volatile ride this week with a slew of pre-Christmas announcements including what could be the start to tapering by the Federal Reserve on Thursday and reports on the nation’s economic growth. The local currency may trade between 80.50 US cents and 84.50 cents this week, according to a BusinessDesk survey of 10 traders …

Any gap in quality between the 'big four' four audit firms and their smaller rivals is perception rather than reality, according to the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, which says the industry is in line with international experience operating under a new regulatory regime. The Financial Markets Authority's first audit The and they salon generic viagra you apply the …

New Zealand services sector activity slipped from a six-year high in November, while remaining at an elevated level, adding to other recent evidence that momentum in the economy is picking up pace. The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) fell 1.4 points to 56.3, remaining in expansion for a seventh straight month. The PSI was again led by new business/orders, …

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the biggest lender by market value across the Tasman, plans to sell down its 8.6 percent stake in Kiwi Income Property Trust after ceding the management contract for $70.5 million. The Australian bank has hired Goldman Sachs to sell down its units in a placement today, and trading in the local property investor has been halted …

New Zealand consumer confidence rose to its highest level in about four years in the fourth quarter as kiwis turned positive about their own finances and more optimistic their own circumstances will improve in the year ahead. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index rose to 120.1 in December, the highest since the third quarter of 2009, from 115.4 in …

Cost-saving options for embattled telecommunications infrastructure provider Chorus include allowing the quality of its service to drop by under-investing in maintenance and upgrades on its existing copper-wire networks, says the report into its future by Ernst & Young Australia. Chorus says it is committed to striking the “right balance …to ensure New Zealand consumers continue to benefit from high quality …

The New Zealand dollar touched a week high against the British pound on the expectation positive economic data may have peaked in the UK, indicating the pace of recovery has slowed. The kiwi rose as high as 50.80 British pence in late New York trading Friday, and was at 50.62 pence at 8am in Wellington from 50.31 pence at 5pm …

All eyes are firmly fixed on US Federal Reserve policymakers as they gather for their final meeting of 2013 during which some believe they will decide to start scaling back their US$85 billion a month bond-buying program. As the US unemployment rate dropped to a five-year low of 7 percent in November, and third-quarter GDP accelerated more than expected to …

New Talisman Gold Mines announced today that is has signed a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with St Albans Pty Ltd, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) set up by a Chinese investor group (the Investor), which contemplates the investment of NZ$10.9m to fund the Talisman Mine development project, subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence, entering into definitive binding agreements and …