Topics

Slingshot, the telecommunications and broadband provider, has been fined $250,000 after pleading guilty to forcing customers unwittingly to take its service and then aggressively pursuing them for payment and referring some to debt collection agencies when they refused. Competitor and industry major Telecom expressed delight at the result, which followed a guilty plea by Call Plus Services, trading as Slingshot, …

The New Zealand dollar climbed to a new five-year high against its Australian counterpart after Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler signalled steeper interest rate hikes next year to quell looming inflation pressures, underlining the disparity between the two nations’ economies. The kiwi climbed as high as 91.73 Australian cents, and was at 91.63 cents at 5pm in Wellington from 90.62 …

Profitless wind energy firm Windflow Technology is going back to shareholders for another $4 million as it continues to seek sales in the UK and develops a new version of its pioneering two-bladed wind turbine for lower windspeeds in collaboration with US-based General Dynamics. The NZAX-listed company has extended its debt facilities by 4 million pounds sterling to 7.4 million …

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler has reservations about New Zealand’s increasing concentration of exports into China, which now dominates foreign purchases of local agricultural products. Wheeler told Parliament’s finance and expenditure select committee in Wellington that dairy prices have climbed 50 percent this year, describing it as “a massive increase.” China takes about 25 percent of New Zealand’s dairy exports, …

Fonterra Cooperative Group’s largest unitholder is prepared to ride out some short-term pain in the expectation the world’s largest dairy exporter will produce better returns a few years down the track. Auckland-based Fonterra yesterday cut its dividend forecast to 10 cents a share from 32 cents while keeping the milk price at $8.30 a kilogram of milk solids, even though …

New Zealand food prices fell last month as lamb led a decline in meat and seasonal prices fell for fruit and vegetables. Food prices rose on an annual basis, suggesting inflation pressures may be emerging. Food prices rose 0.2 percent in November from October and rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. Prices have fallen …

New Zealand’s house sale numbers unexpected fell in November from a year earlier as the Reserve Bank’s restrictions on low equity lending appear to have snuffled out some buyers seeking cheaper properties. The number of houses sold in November fell 6.6 percent to 6,691 from the same month a year earlier, and were up 2.7 percent from October, lagging the …

Trade Me, the auction website, agreed to acquire MotorWeb for $19.5 million in cash to deepen its motor vehicle offering by adding a business forecast to lift earnings in 2014. Auckland-based MotorWeb had earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $3.7 million in the year ended March 31, and expects to lift earnings on the basis to $4.1 million …

Strong commodity prices, particularly for dairy products, could drive up interest rates more than currently expected if they continue to keep the terms of trade at elevated levels, the Reserve Bank says. In an alternative scenario in today’s monetary policy statement, the bank projected a more aggressive tightening cycle if global demand for New Zealand exports keeps commodity prices high …

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler kept the official cash rate at a record-low 2.5 percent, while lifting the projected path for interest rates and saying he’s ready to start hiking “as needed” to keep inflation under control. The kiwi gained on the statement. “Annual CPI inflation increased to 1.4 percent in the September quarter and inflation pressures are projected to …