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James Hardie Industries, the Australian building materials firm, hasn’t made a provision for the New Zealand Ministry of Education’s $1.5 billion suit over 300 leaky buildings, saying it hasn’t worked out what loss, if any, it may face. The Australian company and its New Zealand subsidiaries are assessing the ministry’s claim with the intention of “vigorously” defending it, but haven’t …

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents. The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would …

Guinness Peat Group will have to keep on more staff than previously planned as it works with the UK regulator over its liability for the Coats pension schemes. Chairman Rob Campbell told shareholders in Auckland the investment firm will have to keep certain corporate functions at GPG for longer than it intended as it figures out what level of funding …

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which makes breathing masks and respirators, expects to beat analyst expectations for 2014 profit as it surpassed its own guidance for 2013 profit today as a result of revenue growth, improved gross margins and operating efficiencies. The shares rose to a two-and-a-half year high. Profit is likely to be $85 million to $90 million in the …

Rakon, which makes crystal oscillators used in smart phones and navigation systems, plunged deeper into the red after writing down the value of its Chinese and New Zealand units, and posting underlying earnings at the bottom of its twice-downgraded guidance. The Auckland-based company made a loss of $32.8 million, or 17.1 cents per share, in the 12 months ended March …

Comvita, which produces health products from manuka honey and olive leaves, posted a 10 percent decline in full-year profit, beating its own guidance as it coped with a shortage of honey and higher costs. Net profit fell to $7.37 million, or 24.52 cents a share, from $8.2 million, or 27.85 cents, a year earlier, the Te Puke-based company said in …

Argosy Property reported a jump in full-year profit after earnings in the previous year were eroded by the costs of internalising its management contract. Net property income fell 1.8 percent. Profit was $39.2 million in the 12 months ended March 31, from $1.9 million a year earlier, when it spent $20 million internalising its management contract. Distributable earnings, the favoured …

The New Zealand dollar fell after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank may taper monthly bond purchases at its next few meetings if it’s confident of sustained gains in the economy. The kiwi dropped to 80.64 US cents from 81.47 cents at 5pm in Wellington yesterday. The trade-weighted index fell to 76.38 from 76.82 yesterday. The …

US stocks and bonds fell, both giving up earlier gains, after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke suggested the central bank might scale back stimulus measures as early as at its next meeting. “If we see continued improvement and we have confidence that that is going to be sustained, then we could in-in the next few meetings, we could take a …

DNZ Property Fund, a diversified property investor, reported a 14 percent fall in annual earnings and plans to raise $80 million in a placement to institutional investors and a share purchase plan to help pay for two new acquisitions. Distributable profit, property investors’ favoured measure of earnings which strips out unrealised movements in the value of their portfolios, fell to …