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Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter, has scaled back its offer to farmer shareholders to sell the economic rights of their shares into the Shareholders’ Fund. The NZX-listed Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund, which gives outside investors access to the dairy exporter’s dividend stream, will buy almost 60 million so-called ‘wet’ shares worth $475 million at $7.92 apiece, with those …

he New Zealand dollar surged to its highest in four and a half years against its Australian counterpart as New Zealand’s rising interest rates and growth outlook increase the lure of the nation’s currency. The kiwi advanced to 84 Australian cents from 83.58 at 5pm on Friday. It earlier touched 84.25 cents, the highest since January 2009. The trade-weighted index …

Investors will eye Federal Reserve officials Eric Rosengren and Sandra Pianalto in the coming day for further clues on the timing of a taper of bond buying under the US central bank’s quantitative easing policy. In a bid to bolster growth by keeping interest rates low, the Fed has been pursuing QE, sometimes called printing money, by acquiring bonds at …

New Zealand Sugar Company, which operates the iconic pink Chelsea Sugar refinery on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, boosted profit last year as it benefitted from higher exports and lower costs. The company’s profit rose 15.7 percent to $21.4 million in the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, as revenue fell 5.8 percent and costs dropped 8.8 percent, according to accounts filed with …

Ecoya, which is changing its name to Trilogy International, eked out a small profit as underlying earnings climbed 26 percent on the strength of its skincare product range. The Auckland-based company made a profit of $34,000 in the 12 months ended March 31, from a loss of $218,000 a year earlier, it said in a statement. Earnings before interest, tax, …

Snakk Media, the latest brainchild of Hyperfactory co-founder Derek Handley, has raised $6.5 million from an over-subscribed share purchase plan and private placement, which it will use both to fund its expansion and potentially takeover targets. The Auckland-based company raised about $5.9 million from the share purchase plan and $600,000 in a private placement to eligible investors at 12 cents …

The Serious Fraud Office has charge seven people over a series of alleged mortgage frauds between July 2007 and December 2010. The white-collar crime investigator has laid 48 Crimes Act charges against the group, with the primary defendant Eli Devoy, it said in a statement. Devoy, who goes by the name Ellie Stone, faces 26 charges and is accused of …

New Zealand’s trade surplus in April was smaller than expected as a rise in petroleum imports more than offset increasing meat exports after farmer culled their livestock during this year’s drought. New Zealand’s export receipts outpaced imports by $157 million in April for an annual deficit of $694 million, according to Statistics New Zealand. That’s smaller than the monthly surplus …

Wall Street was mixed, paring sharp early losses after disappointing data from China and a slump in Japanese stocks outweighed better-than-expected reports on US jobs and housing. In China, the preliminary reading for a Purchasing Managers’ Index of manufacturing was 49.6 in May, according to HSBC and Markit Economics data. In Japan, the Topix plunged 6.9 percent. Yesterday’s comments by …

Shares in Fisher & Paykel Healthcare jumped to their highest in more than two years as the maker of breathing masks and respirators said it expects to beat analyst estimates for 2014 profit after surpassing its own guidance for 2013. F&P Healthcare shares surged 5.9 percent to $3.21, the highest since Feb. 1, 2011, when it touched $3.22. The stock …