The Week In Review

Friday 26th January 2001

Utilities investor Infratil moved offshore for the first time, setting up a joint venture with Britain's Special Utilities Investment Trust to buy a 90% stake in Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Infratil paid £14.8 million ($48.5 million).

Tasman Agriculture has sold its two remaining Culverden dairy farms for $7.3 million, equating to $14,486 a hectare or $19.10 a kilogram of milk solids.

Carter Holt Harvey has shut down its Kinleith pulp and paper mill for six days, joining industry players worldwide taking downtime in response to climbing inventories.

Contact Energy suffered a second defeat at the hands of its minority shareholders, withdrawing a motion to raise directors' fees. A similar, but higher, request was withdrawn last year.

The Reserve Bank left the official cash rate unchanged at 6.5%, as widely expected. Governor Don Brash noted the exchange rate had risen and global growth indicators had slowed since he forecast in December the need for a gradual rates rise.

Brian Allison and Graham Fraser resigned as directors of New Zealand Dairy Group, the first casualties of the proposed dairy mega-merger.

Slumping construction markets in Australia and New Zealand slashed Carter Holt Harvey's December third-quarter net earnings to $42 million, from $86 million in the September quarter and $90 million in the June quarter. The wood products division was hardest hit.

Fletcher Challenge was left without a chief executive for its soon-to-be-separated Building division after the surprise resignation of Alexander Toldte. FCL chief executive Michael Andrews has stepped into the breach.

The NZIER's quarterly survey showed business confidence picked up sharply during the December quarter. A net 31% of respondents expected the general business situation to improve over the next six months, compared with a net 45% in September who expected it to worsen.

The Commerce Commission released a hit-list of practices it would be investigating, including collusion on pricing.

The government called for feedback from apple growers over how they want exports to be regulated.

CanWest unit TV3 suffered a slump in November quarter earnings as viewers watched the Olympics on TV1.

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