Topics

Wall Street slid after a report showed a surprise decline in US consumer confidence, while other data showed disappointing home prices and business conditions in the Midwest. The Conference Board’s index of consumer attitudes dropped to 86.0 in September, down from an upwardly revised 93.4 in August. “We’re continuing to effectively struggle,” Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics in …

New Zealand shares fell on the last day of quarter as investors locked in profits from a 2.2 percent gain over the period. Meridian Energy and Genesis Energy paced the day’s decline. The NZX 50 Index fell 4.47 points, 0.1 percent, to 5255.037. Within the index, 22 stocks fell, 17 rose and 11 were unchanged. Turnover was $173 million. The benchmark index advanced …

The proposed backdoor listing for file storage and encryption firm Mega has been given another deadline for regulators to go through documents outlining the offer to shareholders of TRS Investments, the proposed vehicle for the deal. Stakeholders in TRS and Mega have agreed to extend the date to complete the transaction in another four weeks, by Nov. 28, to let the …

Synlait Milk, which plans to take a quarter-stake in Sichuan New Hope Nutritional Foods Co to gain a direct interest in a Chinese infant formula brand, has been granted accreditation to manufacture retail-ready infant formula for export into China. The Rakaia-based milk processor has been notified of its approval by the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of …

The New Zealand dollar is heading for an 11 percent slump in the September quarter as global demand for the greenback has rallied on the prospect of rising US interest rates next year, and as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand confirmed it had been active in the currency market, having jawboned the kiwi since July. The local currency fell to 78 …

Vitaco Health Group, the food supplements business majority owned by Australian private equity firm Next Capital, has cut a deal with the Inland Revenue Department which will see it give up $29.9 million of tax losses generated from mandatory convertible notes, which it has also pledged to unwind. The Auckland-based company entered into a settlement deed with New Zealand’s tax department …

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon has defended its pricing on domestic regional routes, saying it’s one of only a few airlines in the world servicing as many smaller towns as it does, and that such routes are often considered uneconomic. Speaking at the airline’s annual meeting in Christchurch, Luxon told shareholders regional airline economics are “very challenging” and will …

New Zealand business confidence declined for a seventh month in September, to the lowest level in more than two years, as election uncertainty added to concerns about slowing economic growth, according to ANZ Bank’s latest Business Outlook survey. A net 13.4 percent of respondents were optimistic business conditions would improve in the coming year, down from a net of 24.4 in August, and …

The Financial Markets Authority has warned New Zealanders to exercise “extreme caution” when dealing with building society General Equity and has ordered the company to display the regulator’s warning on its website. The Auckland-based registered building society is not a registered deposit taker or subject to the oversight of the Reserve Bank and conducts most of its business offshore, the regulator said …

New Zealand building consents held steady in August from a month earlier, underpinned by approvals for apartments and retirement village units. The number of seasonally adjusted consents was flat at 2,104 in August, the same reading as in July, which recorded a 1.7 percent drop from the previous month, Statistics New Zealand said. Excluding apartments, which can be volatile, consents dropped 1.6 …