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Fonterra Cooperative Group had twice as many farms offer to supply milk for a guaranteed price for the upcoming season than last season amid uncertainty about when global milk prices will recover. A total of 45.2 million kilograms of milk solids was offered by 443 farms, exceeding the 40 million kgMS available under the guaranteed price, the Auckland-based milk processor said in a …

Independent Liquor (NZ), the liquor company owned by Japan’s Asahi Group, wrote off its remaining goodwill, partly offsetting gains from a multi-million dollar settlement with the former private equity owners over the price paid for the booze empire. The Papakura-based company founded by the late Michael Erceg reported a loss of $52.6 million in calendar 2014 compared with a loss of $41.6 million …

The Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) is firm in its view that a good deal on dairy in TPP is necessary for any deal to stack up for New Zealand. “The facts are that dairy accounts for 35% of NZ exports. You can’t even come close to achieving an acceptable deal for New Zealand without a good deal …

The disgraced former chief executive of Auckland’s Heart of the City, Alex Swney, has been sentenced to five years and seven months in jail for tax evasion and defrauding the business group. The 57-year-old, who admitted to charges laid by the Inland Revenue and the Serious Fraud Office, appeared in the Auckland District Court today. Swney was the founder and …

Air New Zealand, the national carrier, expects annual earnings to rise by as much as 60 percent, with benign trading conditions continuing into the second half of the year. The shares gained 2.2 percent to $2.58 in today’s trading. The Auckland-based airline forecasts normalised pre-tax earnings of between $520 million and $530 million in the 12 months ending June 30, up …

The United States is likely to try and force the pace of negotiations to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the next few weeks, following a vote in the US Senate last night that all but ensures President Barack Obama will gain so-called ‘fast track’ authority to complete the controversial agreement. One more Senate vote is expected overnight tonight, New Zealand …

Jane Kelsey is damning ‘unprecedented procedural machinations and an unholy alliance with the Republicans’  as enabling Barack Obama a super-majority to advance fast track authority in the US Senate by a single vote.   The University of Auckland law professor reckons “the damage to relations between the President and his core Democrat constituency may be irrecoverable, making the content of any …

The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact does not yet include an acceptable deal on access for New Zealand’s most important exports, dairy products, with little more than a month to go before the controversial 12 nation trade deal could be concluded. “I think the way I would describe it is there’s a deal. It’s probably not at the level that we would …

APN News & Media chief executive Michael Miller will leave the Australian owner of New Zealand media group, NZME, to head up the Australasian arm of News Corp’s empire, and will be replaced by the company’s top radio executive, Ciaran Davis. Miller’s resignation comes after he was appointed executive chairman of News Corp for Australasia, but he will stay with APN during …

Landcorp Farming, New Zealand’s largest corporate farmer, said it doesn’t need to downgrade earnings guidance in the wake of falling dairy prices, after sheltering from volatility by locking in a guaranteed price at the start of the season. Dairy product prices slipped in this week’s GlobalDairyTrade auction to the weakest level in almost six years. State-owned Landcorp in October cut its forecast for this year’s …