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 Danone Nutricia, the French-owned infant formula maker, has reported a full-year loss it attributes to ongoing fallout from the Fonterra Cooperative Group’s botulism scare in 2013. The New Zealand subsidiary of the French food giant posted a loss of $1.19 million for calendar 2014, compared to a profit of $1.99 million a year earlier. Danone Nutricia ended its supply contract with …

The uncertain future of the dairy industry, seen as a bellwether for New Zealand’s primary sector and wider economy, is concerning many sector leaders, according to KPMG’s sixth Agribusiness Agenda survey. KPMG global head of agribusiness Ian Proudfoot said conversations about dairy have changed dramatically from a year ago when milk prices were at an all-time high and people thought price-setting on …

Fonterra Cooperative Group won’t confirm consulting firm McKinsey & Co is participating in a review of management performance at the world’s largest dairy exporter, even though its shareholders’ council has praised the appointment. The review was referred to obliquely in April as part of an announcement that Fonterra management team member Jacqueline Chow was being appointed to a new role – …

Murray McCully’s controversial $10 million deal to buy off an aggrieved Saudi Arabian investor and his Government and remove a block to a free-trade deal bypassed the normal Government control channels. It’s arguable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has simply been used as a slush fund. But it’s more complex than that. A close look at the …

Murray McCully’s controversial $10 million deal to buyoff an aggrieved Saudi Arabian investor and his Government and remove a block to a free trade deal bypassed the normal Government channels. It’s arguable that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) has simply been used as a slush fund. But it’s more complex than that. A close look at the …

Fonterra Cooperative Group has opened applications for its farmer suppliers to lock in a guaranteed milk price for a portion of their milk in the coming 2015/2016 season in a price range of $4.85 per kilogram of milk solids to $5.25/kgMS, despite undersubscription for the last two offers. The upper limit matches the farmgate milk price forecast for the new season which …

Auditor-General Lyn Provost must investigate Murray McCully’s secret Saudi deal, which is attracting far too much adverse comment on the international stage to be easily swept under the carpet. Cabinet documents do not shed sufficient light on why McCully spearheaded an initiative which at its kindest interpretation resulted in a sweetheart deal to look after Saudi businessman Hamood Al-Ali Al-Khalaf, …

The 2015 Capital Markets report covers an in-depth look at capital market trends. Takeovers, bonds, IPOs and foreign direct investment. Partial Privatisation – are the SOEs meeting market expectations? Rising stars in the investment scene and the big deals; Cooperative investment and how it can be boosted, the NZX’s new directions to grow the NZ market and much more. This …

By Alexander Speirs Air New Zealand’s General Manager of China, Nick Judd, sat down with the Heraldin Shanghai recently to explain how their new joint venture with Air China between Beijing and Auckland will work. Judd likens the new joint ventures to other JVs the airline has with its Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines alliances. “The key different to those …

Liquidators of property developer Tony Gapes’s investment vehicle Victoria Street West are yet to finalise how much is owed, but said there is the potential of $1.4 million to be available for unsecured creditors.. Victoria Street West appointed liquidator John Gilbert of C&C Strategic on April 10. In Gilbert’s first liquidators report he was still establishing how much was owed to …