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New Zealanders continue to feel relatively chipper about their economic circumstances, despite the national spread of drought conditions and a string of high profile job cuts, according to the latest Westpac McDermott-Miller confidence survey. However, public servants are less optimistic than private sector workers and a gap is opening between mens’ and womens’ confidence levels, which Westpac senior economist Felix …

Pumpkin patch, the children’s clothing chain, returned to profit in the first half as costs to close underperforming stores in the US and UK a year earlier weren’t repeated. Sales fell on tough trading conditions and inventory disruptions. Profit was $4.7 million in the six months ended Jan. 31, from a loss of about $30 million a year earlier, the …

Quadrant Private Equity is ceding control of Summerset Group Holdings after agreeing to sell 40 million shares in the retirement village operator through brokerage UBS New Zealand. The sale amounts to 18.6 percent of the shares of Summerset, leaving the buyout firm with 37.2 percent of the company. Quadrant’s QPE Funds Management unit “remains a significant shareholder in Summerset and …

The New Zealand dollar fell at the open after Cyprus delayed a vote on austerity measures that are part of a 10 billion euro bailout devised by euro zone finance ministers and would result in the island’s depositors losing some of their savings. The kiwi dollar fell to 82.29 US cents from 82.72 cents in late New York trading on …

Pencarrow Private Equity, whose past investments have included paper merchant BJ Ball and buggy maker Phil & Teds, is keeping an eye on ways to leverage the $30 billion rebuild of Christchurch having raising $124 million for its new fund. The private equity firm has already run the ruler over 60 companies for its Pencarrow IV Fund to invest in …

A much-maligned weekend deal to rescue Cyprus from financial collapse appears set to unravel within days and could renew concerns about the euro zone and its continuing debt crisis. Whether that flows across the Atlantic and dampens enthusiasm on Wall Street is to be seen. For their part, US investors will be focusing on a two-day meeting this week by …

The kiwi dollar is heading for a 1.1 percent weekly decline against its Australian counterpart as the fortunes of the neighbouring countries trade places with the gloomy pall lifting from Australia and settling over New Zealand. The local currency rose to 79.12 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington from 78.84 cents yesterday, clawing back some of yesterday’s sell-off after better-than …

Agria Corp, the Chinese parent of PGG Wrightson, posted a wider first-half loss after taking an impairment against rent it had paid on un-used farmland it leases from village collectives. The net loss was 374.8 million yuan (US$60.2 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31, from a loss of 45.6 million yuan a year earlier, the New York stock …

The Reserve Bank might be able to accelerate inflation to its target 2 percent sooner than expected if it cuts rates, but that would come at the expense of plumping an already bubbling property market, assistant governor John McDermott says. The ‘Think Big’ projects of the 1970s are evidence that sustainable long-term growth can’t be achieved by “tolerating a bit …

ASX-listed nib holdings has named Abano Healthcare managing director Alan Clarke as chairman of Tower Medical Insurance, the business it acquired from Tower last year for $102 million. Nib, an Australian private health insurer, said it is also well advanced in appointing a New Zealand-based chief executive for Tower Medical, the nation’s second-largest health insurer with about 13 percent market …