Roy Morgan State Of The Nation : Auckland vs Wellington Spotlight

Scoop Business: NZ Unemployment Rate Rises To 6.4% In 2Q
New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose more than expected in the second quarter while the participation rate increased, with little evidence of wage inflation. More>>

ALSO:

• Statistics NZ - Labour market continues to improve
• Parliament Today - Govt Defends Unemployment Figures
• NZ Govt - Employment growth continuing
• Labour - 5000 more Kiwis join the dole queue - Lucrative high-tech contracts vetoed
• Greens - National failing job seekers
• CTU - Unemployment up. Wages flat. What recovery?

Scoop Business: Crown Drops Charge Against Ex-SCF Finance Chief Graeme Brown
The Crown has dropped its one charge of false accounting against former South Canterbury Finance chief financial officer Graeme Brown. More>>

ALSO:

• Serious Fraud Office - SFO withdraws one South Canterbury Finance charge
• Durning PR - Charge against SCF Chief Financial Officer dropped

Meeting Of Mets: MetService And MetOcean Join Forces
MetService announced today that it has acquired a 49% share in leading New Zealand oceanographic consultancy, MetOcean Solutions Ltd... “Our international brand MetraWeather is already delivering New Zealand’s meteorological expertise globally to the media and energy industries. This investment boosts that export potential.” More>>

ALSO:

• Scoop Business - MetService pays $3 mln for MetOcean stake
• Image Out-Link - New modeling system helps predict movement of oil spills and ocean pests around our coast - MetOcean Solutions Ltd

NZ Govt: Joint Border Management System Goes Live
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Customs Minister Maurice Williamson today announced the Government’s $89 million Joint Border Management System has been launched. More>>

ALSO:

• Ministry For Primary Industries - New border system launched

1 August: NZ Dollar Nears 89 Australian Cents, Hits New 5 Year High
The New Zealand dollar approached 89 Australian cents this morning as investors favoured the reviving local economy over investment in Australia where the economy is slowing. More>>

Fonterra: Announces Forecast Cash Payout For 2013/14 Season
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited today lifted its Forecast Farmgate Milk Price for the FY14 season by 50 cents to $7.50 per kgMS and announced an estimated dividend of 32 cents per share - amounting to a Forecast Cash Payout of $7.82. More>>

ALSO:

• Federated Farmers - Advance payout evidence of Fonterra’s strength: Brown
| Fonterra’s ‘overdraft clearing forecast’ for 2013/14
• BusinessDesk - NZ dollar little changed after Fonterra raises forecast

Auckland: Commission Issues Final Report On Auckland International Air
The Commerce Commission has today released its report to the Ministers of Commerce and Transport on the effectiveness of the information disclosure regulatory regime under Part 4 of the Commerce Act in relation to Auckland International Airport. More>>

ALSO:

• BusinessDesk - Auckland Airport earnings just within regulator’s tolerance
• BARNZ - Auckland Airport charges still a threat to travellers
• Air NZ - Auckland Airport is targeting profits above normal level

Research: AgResearch Plans Its Future Footprint
The country’s largest Crown Research Institute, AgResearch, has released further details of its plans to reinvest $100 million into its campus facilities and resources. More>>

ALSO:

• Out-Link - RNZ: AgResearch to move hundreds of jobs

Construction: NZ Building Consents Down 4% In June, Up 25.5% In Qtr
NZ home building consents drop 4% in June, quarterly growth still at 5-year high More>>

BusinessDesk: Methven Agrees To Buy Chinese Manufacturer To Improve Profit
Methven, the tapware maker, will buy its Chinese manufacturer for as much as US$10 million, which it says will improve margins and profits. More>>

Dairy: Synlait Milk Factory Fire Not Expected To Dent Production
Synlait Milk, which listed on the stock exchange last week, doesn’t expect a minor fire at its Dunsadel plant last night will affect production after all of its automated systems kicked into life.
The fire didn’t cause any injuries, nor did it cause any damage to the affected boiler, Rakaia-based Synlait Milk said in a statement. The milk processor doesn’t anticipate any impact on operations or plant activity, it said. More>>

Manufacturing: Skellerup In $7.3 Mln Stoush Over Faulty Rubber Rings
Skellerup Rubber Services, a subsidiary of NZX-listed Skellerup Holdings, has been accused of selling faulty rubber rings to PVC pipe maker Marley New Zealand, who is seeking some $7.3 million in damages from the industrial rubber ... More>>

NBR Rich List: The Rich Continue To Get Richer
This year’s NBR Rich List is bigger and richer than ever before with the total minimum net worth of members now at $47.8 billion, an increase of $3.5 billion on last year’s list. Add the small group of New Zealand-based international billionaires ... More>>

ALSO:

• First Union - Rich List won’t be celebrated everywhere
• Out-Link - John Key On Rich List | Stuff.co.nz
• Out-Link - Bryce Edwards: The rich get richer (and more powerful) - NZ Herald

Broadband Network: Big Opportunities For Northland In Undersea Cable Deal
Northland is poised to score a major technological and economic coup with the signing of a deal that could see the New Zealand link of a proposed international submarine cable project worth hundreds of millions coming ashore in Whangarei.
New Zealand-based Pacific submarine cable developer and owner Hawaiki Cable Limited is planning to build a $US350M submarine cable system to carry vast quantities of electronic data between Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and the west coast of the United States. More>>

ALSO:

• Out-Link - New submarine cable plan unveiled - NZ Herald

New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Ltd : Major Expansion Planned For NZ Pharmaceuticals Major Expansion Planned for NZ Pharmaceuticals July 28, 2013 New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NZP), a global leader in Bile Acids manufacturing, has recently embarked on a $15M expansion programme at its facilities in Palmerston North. Since being established ... More>>

Women in Business: Number Of Female Directors Rising, Survey Finds
AUCKLAND, 25 July 2013 – The gender balance in New Zealand boardrooms is changing with more women in director roles according to a new survey. The 2013 Strategic Pay Director Remuneration Survey shows the number of female directors has almost doubled ... More>>

Fonterra: Fund Slides 3.7% As Dairy Exporter’s 2013 Earnings
July 25 (BusinessDesk) – Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world’s largest exporter of dairy products, said this year’s earnings will miss forecast by about 7.3 percent, spurring a sell-off in the company’s listed fund. More>>

ALSO:

• Federated Farmers - Drought takes its toll on Fonterra’s forecast

Reserve Bank: OCR Unchanged At 2.5 Percent
The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 2.5 percent.
“Growth in the New Zealand economy is picking up and, although uneven, is becoming more widespread across sectors. More>>

ALSO:

• BusinessDesk - RBNZ keeps OCR at 2.5%, watches housing, building inflation
• BusinessDesk - NZ dollar gains as Wheeler signals end to stimulus
• BusinessDesk - NZ dollar falls on weaker Chinese manufacturing
• BusinessDesk - NZ dollar weakens on greenback demand; RBNZ looms
• Out-Link - interest.co.nz - On RBNZ Decision

Financial Markets Authority: FMA Files First Market Manipulation Case In New Zealand
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) today confirmed that it has filed and served civil proceedings against Brian Peter Henry alleging market manipulation of shares in the NZX-listed Diligent Board Member Services. More>>

ASB: Quarterly Economic Forecasts
Some events seem to be going New Zealand’s way with the economy making steady progress as it recovers from the deep recession during 2008 and 2009, according to ASB’s latest Quarterly Economic Forecasts. More>>

Nielsen NZ: Cautious Rise In New Zealanders' Economic Confidence
New Zealand consumer confidence indexed at 93 in the first in the second quarter of 2013, increasing three points, according to Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. The measure of 93 ... More>>

BusinessDesk: Rod Carr Appointed As Reserve Bank Chairman
July 23 (BusinessDesk) - University of Canterbury vice-chancellor and former Reserve Bank deputy governor Rod Carr has been appointed chairman of the central bank by Finance Minister Bill English. More>>

Statistics: Visitors From The US Outnumber Those From The UK
"US and UK visitor numbers are both below the peaks seen in 2006, before the global economic downturn, but UK numbers have dropped much further," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said. More>>

Scoop Business: SkyCity Cleared To Buy Queenstown’s Wharf Casino
“This was an unusual application because gambling is strictly regulated in New Zealand,” chairman Mark Berry said in a statement. “The removal of competition between the two Queenstown casinos would not materially impact on competition given this high level of regulation and other constraints SkyCity would continue to face.” More>>

ALSO:

• Commerce Commission - SkyCity granted clearance to acquire Otago Casinos

Scoop Business: NZ Inflation Rate Slips To 0.2% In 2Q On Cheaper Petrol
New Zealand inflation printed just below expectations in the second quarter, as cheap imported petrol helped counter rising housing related prices, pushing the annual rate to a 14-year low. More>>

ALSO:

• Scoop Business - Tepid NZ inflation keeps pressure off RBNZ
• Statistics NZ - CPI up 0.7 percent for the year - Statistics NZ
• NZ Council of Trade Unions - Price rises hitting low income families harder

ICT Sector Report: NZ Computer System Design Firms Struggling To Find Workers
New Zealand computer system design companies pay more than twice the average wage and have recorded faster growth in pay that the rest of the economy, yet increasingly they’re reporting severe difficulties attracting workers. More>>

ALSO:

• NZ Govt - New report gives in-depth look at NZ’s ICT sector
• Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment - Information and Communications Technology Report
• Out-Link - Joyce misleads on ICT | frogblog

Higher Deposits Ahead? Key 'Handed Loaded LVR Gun To Reserve Bank'
John Key’s incompetent handling of the mortgage lending limits tool is set to deny thousands of Kiwis a shot at their first home... Labour understands the Reserve Bank will soon announce limits on high Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) home lending without an exemption for first home buyers. More>>

ALSO:

• Scoop Business - Curbs on high LVR loans may come as soon as August
• Labour - Key’s kick in the teeth to first home buyers
• Greens - Housing bubble can be controlled

Bag Limits: Consultation Underway On Fish Stocks
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is releasing Initial Position Papers for a range of fish stocks including: Bluenose, Kingfish, Snapper, Leatherjacket, Oyster, Sea Perch, Scampi, Hoki, Ling and Orange Roughy. The position papers outline proposed changes to sustainability measures and management controls for the 1 October 2013 fishing year. More>>

ALSO:

• Labour - Rec fishers shouldn’t carry the snapper can
• Brendan Horan MP - Brendan Horan: snapper catch to be cut to two a day?
• LegaSea - Snapper on the line

Going Digitl: Tech Journo Bill Bennett Partners With Geekzone And Scoop
New Zealanders deserve better technology news coverage... That’s why veteran technology journalist Bill Bennett has joined forces with Geekzone founder Mauricio Freitas and publishing entrepreneur Alastair Thompson from Scoop to create digitl. More>>

ALSO:

• Out-Link - digitl - technology | new zealand