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Air New Zealand, which is 73 percent state-owned, posted first-half profit that more than doubled after lifting passenger volumes and boosting yields on international routes, while keeping costs in check. Profit rose to $100 million in the six months ended Dec. 31 from $38 million a year earlier, the Auckland-based airline said in a statement. Operating revenue rose 3.4 percent …

Wall Street rallied for a second day as stronger-than-expected reports on US business spending and the housing market bolstered optimism about the sustainability of the economic recovery. In afternoon trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.94 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.09 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.14 percent. Orders for …

TeamTalk, which bought the rural telecommunications provider Farmside last year, has cut its annual earnings guidance, blaming the downgrade on the government-imposed levy to pay for servicing unprofitable customers in remote areas. The Wellington-based company made a net profit of $1.7 million, or 7.2 cents per share, in the six months ended Dec. 31, from $5.4 million, or 23.3 cents, …

The government will be racing the clock to try and sell up to 49 percent of state-owned electricity company MightyRiverPower now that the Supreme Court has dismissed attempts by Maori claimants to settle Treaty of Waitangi claims to freshwater rights first. The unanimous decision of the five judge full bench of the Supreme Court clears the last legal hurdle to …

Fonterra Cooperative Group farmers will get some breathing space in being fully ‘shared up’ after the world’s biggest dairy exporter announced a bonus issue of stock and offered more flexibility for those growing milk production. Fonterra shares, which trade on a closed market managed by the NZX, last traded at $7.17, or about 59 percent higher than the $4.52 fair …

MightyRiverPower, the first state-owned enterprise slated for a partial sale this quarter, has raised $100 million from institutional investors in two wholesale bond issues to repay debt. The electricity generator and retailer sold $75 million of six-year bonds paying annual interest of 5.029 percent and $25 million of 10-year bonds paying 5.793 percent annually, it said in a statement. The …

The Reserve Bank will get an expanded range of tools to shore up financial stability, including the ability to set loan-to-value ratios on residential mortgages and force banks to hold more capital against risky lending, by the middle of the year, Finance Minister Bill English says. The Reserve Bank will consult on its proposals for the macro-prudential tools next month, …

A jump in Americans arriving in New Zealand on cruise ships failed to arrest a 2.3 percent overall decline in the number of short-term visitors last month, with Chinese tourists tumbling by a fifth. Some 260,600 tourists visited New Zealand in January for a short-term stay, down from 266,800 a year earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. The decline came …

New Zealand recorded a trade deficit in January, reflecting a larger-than-expected decline in exports led by dairy products, while imports rose. The deficit was $305 million last month, for an annual trade gap of $1.3 billion, according to Statistics New Zealand. That compares to the forecast in a Reuters survey of a $100 million surplus. Exports fell to $3.35 billion …

The government is backing the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund with a further $60 million as part of its efforts to encourage more private investment. The latest injection follows a previous $40 million underwrite and is on top of the $160 million the government has already allocated to the venture capital programme. “The underwrite facility is a contingent liability rather …