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Hanover Finance former shareholder Eric Watson isn’t contributing to the $18 million settlement reached between the Financial Markets Authority and directors and promoters of the group just two weeks before a civil claim was due to be heard in court. His name is omitted from the settlement agreement which lists contributions from the other five directors and promoters – Mark …

The Financial Markets Authority has settled a civil claim against the directors and promoters of failed finance company Hanover Finance for $18 million just two weeks before it was due to be heard in court. The money will be distributed to eligible investors who invested in the Hanover Finance Ltd (HFL), Hanover Capital Ltd (HCL), United Finance Ltd (UFL), in …

Disgruntled Alliance Group shareholders say they hope to have the support from 5 percent of their number within the next 10 days that’s required to force a special meeting to discuss the potential benefits and risks of a merger with Silver Fern Farms. Last week Silver Fern Farms shareholders crossed the 5 percent threshold to force a special meeting of their meat cooperative …

The number of Auckland house sales were at the highest in 11 years for a June month, while falling from May as winter starts to slow activity, according to Barfoot & Thompson. The city’s biggest realtor sold 1,167 houses in June, down from 1,225 in May, though 13 percent more than the same month a year earlier, it said in a statement. New …

New Zealand’s five major banks (ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank and Westpac) have continued to show strong profits and lending growth in the first quarter of the 2015 however lending margins are beginning to contract due to stiff competition. Net profit before tax increased by $94 million or 5.9% to $1.69 billion for the first quarter of 2015, compared to $1.59 …

The New Zealand dollar is heading for a 1.8 percent weekly decline as financial markets remain volatile ahead of Greece’s referendum on whether to accept a bailout package from its European creditors, and as the wheels start coming off the local economy. The kiwi dropped to 67.18 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 68.42 cents on Friday in New York …

British American Tobacco Holdings (New Zealand), the nation’s largest cigarette company, reported a 3.9 percent decline in annual profit as it absorbed the government’s latest hike in excise tax. The local arm of British American Tobacco, whose brands include Pall Mall, Benson & Hedges and Dunhill, reported net profit of $126.5 million in calendar 2014, down from $131.6 million a year …

Murray Radford will retire as chairman of Mowbray Collectibles as the auction house prepares to rename as Bethunes after selling units and repaying debt. Radford will end 15 years on the Mowbray board and Christopher Swasbrook will act as chairman until a replacement is found, the Wellington-based collectibles company said in a statement. Mowbray settled the sale of subsidiaries Mowbray Bethunes and …

Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co shares have halved in value on the Shenzen stock exchange over the past three weeks, pushing their price 12 percent below what Fonterra Cooperative Group paid for its 18.8 percent stake in the Chinese infant formula maker. Beingmate shares closed at 15.82 yuan yesterday, below the 18 yuan apiece, or 3.46 billion yuan that the Auckland-based dairy cooperative paid …

MightyRiverPower’s Metrix metering business has walked away from a deal with Infratil-controlled Trustpower that would have supplied the power company’s 242,000 electricity customers with smart meters. The Auckland-based company decided not to proceed with the contract after reviewing the systems development to date and ongoing requirements, it said in a statement. The contract was expected to start this year, before scaling …