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New Zealand property values rose at a 9.2 percent annual pace in November, and continue to be driven by a shortage of houses in Auckland and Christchurch, although there appears to be some slowdown in buyer interest, according to state valuer Quotable Value. Property values in the Auckland area rose at an annual 15.2 percent pace, ahead of the 14.5 …

Bank of New York Mellon Corp, which has US$1.5 trillion of assets under management, has reduced its holding in Chorus after the telecommunications network company said it would be hurt by the regulator’s decision to lower the price it can charge retailers for its copper-based broadband service. New York-based BNY Mellon, which is also the world’s largest custody bank with …

Chatham Rock Phosphate has been granted a 20-year mining permit to extract phosphate nodules from an 820 square kilometre area of the Chatham Rise, the first key step in its approvals to strip the sea floor of the fertiliser chemical. The permit is the first granted under the amended Crown Minerals Act which came into effect in May. The proposal …

The New Zealand government posted a smaller operating deficit than expected in the first four months of the financial year as it reported a bigger personal tax take and reaped more from customs duties on imported tobacco. The Crown’s operating balance before gains and losses (obegal) was $1.75 billion in the four months ended Oct. 31, smaller than the $2.14 …

The Commerce Commission is consulting with the telecommunications industry over what price Chorus can charge rivals to access its copper telephone lines, suggesting a review process could be accelerated and the final price backdated. The Commerce Commission is reviewing the price by building a full cost model on Chorus’s unbundled local loop, which lets retailers rent the lines for voice …

The Reserve Bank’s inflation target is crucial if it wants the private sector to believe its projected interest rate path, and means the monetary authority needs consistent communications, deputy governor Geoff Bascand says. The central bank is mandated to provide a type of forward guidance in its policy statements, which is typically the future track of the 90-day bank bill …

– New Zealand shares fell as investors punished Diligent Board Member Services for delaying its financial statements again and election-linked regulatory fears continued to weigh on power companies such as MightyRiverPower, Contact Energy and Meridian Energy. The NZX 50 Index dropped 49.698 points, or 1 percent, to 4734.155. Within the index, 38 stocks fell, four rose and eight were unchanged. …

New Zealand shares fell, pushing the NZX 50 index to a two-month low, as Infratil dropped in the wake of its buyback, Chorus suffered from the uncertainty around regulated price cuts, and Meridian Energy and MightyRiverPower declined. The NZX 50 dropped 14.206 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4719.949, the lowest close since Oct. 10. Within the index, 18 stocks fell, …

Potential buyers of the New Zealand unit of Australian waste manager Transpacific Industries have until the end of the day to make their interest known, with indicative bids closing. The first round of bidding will provide a steer for the Queensland-based company as to what it might reap from the sale of its New Zealand waste management business, rather than …

Delegat’s Group, the winemaker which this year bought Australia’s Barossa Valley Estate brand, expects operating profit to rise by about 10 percent in 2014, though it warns a high kiwi dollar may hurt earnings. Net operating earnings are expected to rise to $29 million in the 12 months ending June 30, 2014, from $26.3 million a year earlier, managing director …