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Foreign Minister Murray McCully spoke to the US-NZ Pacific Partnership forum yesterday setting the scene with a speech focused on bilateralism. Thank you for being here. It’s great to be back in Washington, and to see so many friends of New Zealand here today. I attended the first of these forums in April 2006 and each subsequent gathering. I want …

Shares of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which has lifted its full-year guidance three times, rose to a two-year high after brokerage First NZ Capital raised its rating to “outperform” from “neutral”, citing prospects for better growth and higher margins. F&P Healthcare shares rose as high as $3.05, the highest level since May 23, 2011, when it touched $3.10. It was …

Renaissance Corp, the retailer of Apple products and design school operator, turned to a first-half loss on disappointing sales, shrinking margins and an impairment charge at its Yoobee stores. The net loss was $3.1 million in the six months ended March 31, from a profit of $1.96 million a year earlier. Sales fell to $24.7 million from $77 million a …

Independent research commissioned by would-be undersea phosphate miner Chatham Rock Phosphate has raised the company’s share price to a target value of $2 from $1.87 last September as the timetable firms for mining from early 2015. The latest analysis from Edison Investment Research suggests CRP is overcoming technical hurdles, its dredging partner may be able to retro-fit an existing ship …

New Zealand Oil & Gas chairman Peter Griffiths has thrown his support behind legislative moves to make directors liable if the companies they govern fail to meet health and safety obligations. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Institute of Directors yesterday released health and safety governance guidelines for directors outlining best practice and advice for company boards. …

The New Zealand dollar rose as the greenback weakened on trader bets that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday may say he is still cautious about the pace of recovery in the world’s largest economy. The kiwi rose to 81.72 US cents from 81.20 cents at the 5pm market close yesterday. The trade-weighted index gained to 76.98 from 76.65 …

Wall Street touched fresh records earlier in the day before giving up gains as investors await clues from the US Federal Reserve on its plans for maintaining stimulus measures. The minutes from the latest Fed’s policy committee meeting are due on Wednesday, the same day that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will be giving testimony to Congress. In late afternoon trading …

Shares in MightyRiverPower, which the government partially privatised earlier this month, dipped below their $2.50 float price in afternoon trading, 10 days after listing on the stock exchange. The shares traded as low as $2.48 before recovering to $2.50, with about 366,000, or 0.03 percent, of the company changing hands below the initial public offer price. The stock rose 4.8 …

The government is aiming to cool housing inflation, seen as a threat to New Zealand’s financial stability, while speeding up consents as part of a plan to encourage construction of 39,000 new homes in Auckland. Housing Minister Nick Smith’s special housing area proposal, where central government would buddy up with local authorities to unlock land supply, will remove certainty for …

New Zealand has stopped issuing export certificates for beef and lamb bound for China pending resolution of a paperwork glitch that has left frozen product sitting on Chinese wharves. Ministry for Primary Industries deputy director-general Andrew Coleman told reporters at Parliament that he couldn’t say how much meat was caught by the hold up, which has been blamed on a …