Week in review

Friday 17th October 2003

A management shake-out at Air New Zealand saw chief information officer Rob Fyfe rise to group general manager, airlines. Chief operating officer Andrew Miller, once regarded as an heir to chief executive Ralph Norris, left the company.

New Zealand Exchange reported a $929,000 for the September third quarter. It said equities trading was an "extremely strong" 148,905 trades, up 17% on the same quarter last year.

New Zealand-owned International Dairy Ventures bought the New Zealand operations of Swiss company Chateau Creme Delight for an undisclosed sum, adding the Killinchy Gold, Chateau, Lite Licks, Movenpick, and Heavenly Treats brands to its portfolio.

AMP wrote off a further $A1 billion ($1.16 billion) from the value of its British operations, taking total writedowns to $A6 billion and assuring another big loss this year. The news was not unexpected but ended a strong rally in AMP's share price.

Vodka maker 42 Below (NZX ticker FTB) listed on the New Zealand Exchange, dropping from the issue price of 50c to 38c on its first day despite being oversubscribed. Chief Vodka Bloke Geoff Ross shrugged the debut off, saying he wasn't going to get into an argument with the market about the shares' worth.

State-owned Television New Zealand posted a 50% higher $29.1 million June-year profit on revenue up 3% to $492.1 million. Television profit was up, transmission profit was down and the government will get a $7.8 million dividend.

Property for Industry's profit for the nine months to September rose 2% to $8.7 million. It said rental income was stable nut interest costs continued to fall.

Wool Equities will be the first company to list on the secondary AX market when it opens for trading on November 14. Wool Equities has 12,000 shareholders and investments in Ovita, Canesis, Keratec, and Tectra.

Mobile radio operator Team Talk posted a 23% higher, $3.1 million annual profit on revenue of $20.4 million. Managing director David Ware said the company would focus on adding value to existing products and examining acquisition opportunities.

New Zealand Exchange listed at $3.60, not $4.30 as reported last week. The error is regretted.

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