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Kathmandu, the outdoor equipment retailer, posted a 13 percent gain in first-half sales, driven by revenue from is biggest market of Australia. Sales climbed to $165.9 million in the six months ended Jan. 31, from $146.7 million a year earlier, the Christchurch-based company said in a statement. Net profit rose to $4.3 million from $10.3 million. The results are within …

The Reserve Bank is testing the waters for making lenders carry more capital cover on their balance sheets for high loan-to-value ratio mortgages, where it sees more risk to the country’s financial system. The central bank is reviewing bank capital adequacy requirements for home loans, and sees a higher correlation in the local market with housing loan losses than international …

Diligent Board Member Services faces breaching listing rules after the stock exchange regulator refused an application to waive its use of an American auditor without a local licence. NZX Regulation declined a waiver from listing rules that would let Diligent off the hook for not using an auditor with a local licence, according to a decision published on the stock …

Veritas Investments, the shell company that’s acquiring the Mad Butcher franchisor business, will offer shares at $1.30 apiece, raising up to $25 million to help fund the purchase. The price represents a premium to the volume weighted average price of the stock in the three months before the $40 million cash and scrip acquisition was announced on Dec. 20 though …

Initial optimism over the agreement on a financial rescue for Cyprus turned to concern about the increased exposure of investors and depositors to banking losses in the euro zone. Following earlier EU assurances that the Cyprus model of taxing depositors to help fund the nation’s bailout would not be applied elsewhere, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem today told Reuters and the …

New Zealand shares fell, paced by Fletcher Building, which drifted off in the absence of offshore buyers and concern it needs to lift earnings to justify its current share price. SkyCity Entertainment Group dropped after shedding its dividend. The NZX 50 Index fell 2.15 points, or 0.01 percent, to 4340.73. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 18 fell and 11 …

The New Zealand dollar fell against the euro after the Cypriot government stitched together a lifeline from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to keep the Mediterranean nation from defaulting and forcing the first euro-exit. The kiwi fell to 64.05 euro cents at 5pm in Wellington from 64.22 cents on Friday in New York. The local currency traded at …

Synlait Farms, the Canterbury dairy farmer whose owners tried unsuccessfully to raise funds for its milk processing associate in a 2009 IPO, is to have its stock quoted on the Unlisted platform starting tomorrow. The company runs 12,970 cows on 13 farms in Canterbury. The listing is to “provide options to enhance liquidity to shareholders,” founder Juliet Maclean said. “Synlait …

China Construction Bank, the world’s second biggest lender by market value, has got board approval to set up a subsidiary in New Zealand. The bank’s board, which counts former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley among its directors, unanimously approved a proposal to set up a subsidiary in Auckland, with a capital injection of US$50 million. The resolution was one of …

The receivers for failed Timaru lender South Canterbury Finance will wrap up their administration at the end of the month, having clawed back $774.4 million in the two-and-a-half year administration. McGrathNicol’s Kerryn Downey and William Black handed over the remnants of deceased business Allan Hubbard’s empire to Crown Asset Management last year, and remained in office to wind up one …