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Hansells Food Group breached a lending covenant with ANZ Bank New Zealand because of a loss of earnings at its Australian subsidiary stemming from a customer’s trademark dispute with another company. The Hansells unit had been making products for the customer under a brand which became the subject of a dispute and subsequently had “significant lost sales,” according to its …

Trade Me, New Zealand’s largest online auction site, wants to increase the pool of fees for its directors by 23 percent to accommodate paying for two director positions which were previously funded by Fairfax Media. The company will ask shareholders at its annual meeting in Wellington next month to increase the fee pool for its directors to $800,000 from $650,000, …

The liquidator for the failed Mainzeal construction group is preparing to face off with several related entities over some “highly intermingled” transactions. BDO’s Brian Mayo-Smith, Andrew Bethell and Stephen Tubbs are chasing $46.6 million in related party debt in separate actions as they try to untangle the effects of two significant restructures two years prior to the collapse that had …

New Zealand’s monthly trade deficit was the biggest in almost five years in August as the one-off arrival of a drilling platform skewed imports, and export growth was minimal in a month where the country’s food safety was under heightened global scrutiny. The monthly deficit widened to $1.19 billion in August from $771 million in July and $812 million a …

Fonterra Cooperative Group posted full-year earnings that met its guidance as drought in the second half eroded returns from New Zealand Milk and rivalry eroded Australian margins, while sales grew in the rest of the world. Normalised earnings before interest and tax fell 3 percent to $1 billion, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. That meets the guidance it …

The New Zealand dollar weakened as investors sold off higher risk assets as they mull yet again the prospect of the US Federal Reserve pulling back its US$85 billion a month bond buying programme. The kiwi fell to 82.70 US cents at 8am in Wellington from 83.35 cents at the 5pm market close yesterday. The trade-weighted index slid to 77.10 …

Wall Street was mixed as investors weighed reports underpinning the recovery in the US housing market, with signs rising mortgage rates might curb home buyers’ appetites and consumer confidence remains weak. In late afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.11 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.16 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index …

New Zealand shares snapped a two-day slide after Kathmandu delivered record earnings and Sky Network Television rose in continued heavier-than-average trading. Fletcher Building rose after falling from a five-year high reached last week. The NZX 50 Index, which touched a record high last week, rose 9.213 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4710.587 Within the index, 16 stocks rose, 24 rose …

The New Zealand dollar pared an earlier decline after Fonterra Cooperative Group, the nation’s biggest exporter, hiked its forecast payout to farmers for the second time in as many month The kiwi traded at 83.33 US cents at 5pm in Wellington climbing from as low as 83.11 cents earlier in the day. The currency had fallen from as much as …

Fonterra Cooperative Group, seeking to rebuild its reputation after a contamination scare that proved groundless, has hiked its forecast payout to farmers for a second time in as many months while warning earnings in the first half will be “significantly lower” than in 2013. On the eve of the release of its 2013 full-year results, Fonterra lifted its forecast payout …