Daily Finance News Headlines

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Last updated: Friday, 3 Sep 2010 7:00am

New Zealand

Questions need to be asked of the former management of failed company South Canterbury Finance, says the Shareholders Association... More»

The Government favours selling South Canterbury Finance assets as going concerns rather than a long, costly receivership... More»

Bad loans to bars, hotels, furniture makers, property investors and even a state house builder wiped out at least $100 million from South Canterbury Finance.... More»

New Zealand is among a group of five advanced economies whose Government finances have the most capacity to deal with unexpected shocks, according to a study by International Monetary Fund economists.... More»

The economy is in no danger of falling into a W-shaped recovery, dropping back towards recession, according to a Business New Zealand report.... More»

The Commerce Commission has filed proceedings in the High Court in Auckland against a number of multi-national freight forwarding companies alleging price collusion... More»

Fonterra has hired securities market operator NZX to help design a platform for shareholders of the world's biggest dairy exporter to trade stock amongst themselves... More»

The New Zealand dollar climbed back over 71 US cents as milk prices jumped unexpectedly on Fonterra's online auction, while global sentiment took a boost from upbeat American data... More»

The price of whole milk powder jumped by almost a fifth in Fonterra's online auction as the Russian drought raises concerns about buyers' ability to secure milk in the future... More»

A surprise rise in average dairy commodity prices on Fonterra's latest online auction helps keep the faith for a bumper payout to farmers this season, but economists need some convincing that the upturn will last.... More»

The Hong Kong company aiming to acquire the Crafar dairy farms, Natural Dairy (NZ) Holdings, has scaled back its New Zealand investment plans after running up against the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's listing rules.... More»

Opposition to foreign investment is more about racism than overseas ownership, Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson says.... More»

Pyne Gould Corp. confirmed that a $100 million loan to South Canterbury Finance has been repaid following the finance company's collapse into receivership.... More»

State-owned enterprise KiwiRail has started its turnaround journey with an 11 per cent fall in operating profit on the previous year, but new chairman John Spencer says there is reason to be optimistic.... More»

The High Court in Wellington threw out an appeal by Bruce Davidson, the former chairman of failed finance company Bridgecorp, to have his directorship ban lifted... More»

SBS Bank took a hit in the June quarter after deciding not to pass on rising wholesale interest rates to its customers.... More»

Talley's Group has extended the deadline on its 37 cents-a-share offer to minority shareholders in listed meat processor Affco for a second time, but stressed that it will not budge on the price... More»

Commissioner for Financial Advisers David Mayhew believes fund managers must be directly accountable to a regulator and there should be an administrative tribunal specialising in financial market matters.... More»

An international hotel broker has called for a truce at Auckland's Westin.... More»

One of the two men involved in an attempt to revive the trouble-plagued Brooklyn Rise housing development has been bankrupted twice and jailed for fraud.... More»

Ongoing litigation has Five Star Finance's liquidator is keeping mum on the amount of funds on hand in the trust account and where it is committed.... More»

Pyne Gould Corp.'s Perpetual Group is in talks to acquire ASB Bank's Aegis WRAP platform... More»

Pyne Gould Corporation and Torchlight Fund, linked to its cornerstone shareholder, are interested in buying assets within failed lender South Canterbury Finance ... More»

Australian-owned rivals APN News & Media and ACP Media have become virtually equal forces in the battle for the woman's magazine reader, after another Aussie publisher, Pacific Magazines, sold its key womens' titles to APN... More»

Daily Sharechat. Nuplex produced a solid result ahead of expectations, says John Cairns, an analyst at Forsyth Barr.... More»

NZ Market Report. New Zealand stocks rose for the second time in three sessions, as buoyant Asian and Australian markets helped maintain investor risk appetite on the domestic front... More»

Australia

Australian Market Report. The Australian sharemarket recovery continued yesterday.... More»

Two years of profit downgrades and poor continuous disclosure have left Nufarm facing shareholder class action over 'blatant' misleading and deceptive conduct.... More»

Australia has recorded its fourth straight trade surplus, but the result came in below even the lowest economist forecast on a fall in exports.... More»

A scheduled shutdown of Chinese steel mills and importation of six RAAF jets took the edge off Australia's trade performance.... More»

Andrew Forrest and Fortescue Metals are being sued by major shareholder Leucadia National for alleged misleading and deceptive behaviour... More»

Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Andrew Forrest has met with key independent MP Rob Oakeshott and says they have agreed on a plan to hold a "taxation summit".... More»

Australia is among a handful of economies whose governments' budgets are best placed to deal with 'unexpected shocks', an International Monetary Fund report says.... More»

Investors in Australia's latest ailing toll road project have turned their attention to legal action over grossly over-estimated traffic forecasts.... More»

Credit providers face strict new compliance reviews and applicants for new licences will be subject to rigorous checks.... More»

Eddy Groves, the founder of ABC Learning, is taking legal action against Austock Group over a $10 million loss.... More»

BHP Billiton will soon get a sense of the regulatory hurdles facing its $US38.7 billion ($42.5bn) hostile bid for Potash Corp.... More»

Just how big are the ambitions of Marius Kloppers?... More»

Chinese interest in taking on BHP Billiton in its $US40 billion hostile takeover bid for Canada's Potash Corp is growing, overseas reports say.... More»

Senior executives of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank plan a pitch to some of Wall Street's biggest investors.... More»

Photon Group chief executive Jeremy Philips has begun choosing a new senior management team ahead of a crucial shareholder vote this month.... More»

Trevor O'Hoy, the former Foster's Group chief executive who was at the helm when it made its ill-fated acquisition of Southcorp for $3.7 billion, says a split makes perfect sense.... More»

French beverages group Pernod Ricard has reported a 5 per cent drop in sales by its Australian wine brand, Jacob's Creek, along with a 10 per cent fall in volume.... More»

Wesfarmers chief Richard Goyder has criticised the standard of economic debate in the election, saying politicians spent too much time arguing over the budget deficit while ignoring the need for policy reform.... More»

Paul Hogan and the Australian Tax Office are negotiating to find a way through the impasse that has resulted in the actor barred from leaving the country.... More»

Federal Court extends a freeze order on shares worth millions of dollars as the tax commissioner pursues companies linked to a Swiss-based Belgian businessman.... More»

Woodside's $30 billion Browse liquefied natural gas development could be delayed by a protracted legal stoush after the WA government announced it had taken steps to compulsorily seize the Kimberley land for the project.... More»

The $10 million float of Port Adelaide Football Club sponsor MyATM is back on, with the company releasing a replacement prospectus.... More»

One of Fairfax Media's new board appointments, Greg Hywood, has taken a significant pay cut and given up an executive role to take on the non-executive directorship and re-enter the industry in which he forged his career... More»

Metcash has maintained its earning guidance despite what it called a 'deflationary' retail environment for supermarket produce.... More»

PBL Media's daily deals website Cudo has launched into a crowded market but competitors are unfazed, saying they know the market better and are nimbler.... More»

Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive will not rule out BHP Billiton needing to increase the $US5.8 billion ($6.3bn) equalisation payment.... More»

Most sharemarket-listed companies are failing to fully disclose the performance hurdles to trigger senior executive bonuses, say super funds.... More»

David Symons. Nufarm shares have plummeted 9 per cent over two days following revelations of a $170 million debt blowout.... More»

Ian McIlwraith. Greg Hywood's exit from Fairfax Media seven years ago, when publisher and editor-in-chief of The Age, was so complete that he has not yet set foot in its new Melbourne headquarters.... More»

Malcolm Maiden. If you own shares in one or more of the big Australian banks, reports from New Zealand this week about the collapse of one of New Zealand's biggest non-bank lenders, South Canterbury Finance, may have caught your eye.... More»

John Durie. Telstra boss David Thodey is privately breathing a little easier at the signs that Julia Gillard will be able to form a government.... More»

Elizabeth Knight. A decision this week by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to overturn an order by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to ban Tricom boss Lance Rosenberg from the financial services industry is a win for Rosenberg, a partial public relations win for ASIC and a big win for public disclosure.... More»

Andrew Main. The race to get a sale happening at QR National is hotting up on both sides, miners and government.... More»

Stephen Bartholomeusz. Fairfax has at last added two directors to its board with hands-on media experience. It's certainly worth a try, given the lacklustre achievements of the formerly journalist-free board.... More»

World

U.S. Market Report.An updated report of the latest action on Wall Street... More»

World Market Report. An updated report of the worlds' latest market movements... More»

Dell withdraws its bid for 3Par after rival Hewlett-Packard raises its offer for the data storage company to $US2.1bn.... More»

Burger King is being sold to private equity firm 3G Capital in a deal valued at $US3.26bn, it has been announced.... More»

An explosion rips through an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the blast in April that caused a huge oil spill.... More»

A surprise bounce in manufacturing activity in the world's two biggest economies in August cheered investors as it ended the bleak run of US economic data over the summer.... More»

Russia will consider lifting its grain export ban only after the next year's harvest has been reaped, Vladimir Putin says.... More»

The Central Bank of Afghanistan has said it won't allow the country's biggest private financial institution to collapse in the wake of U.S. media allegations of corruption and heavy losses.... More»

The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised its forecast for eurozone growth for this year and next year.... More»

Why did the US government save AIG after letting Lehman Brothers fail? Bill Thomas, the former congressman who is the vice chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Committee, put the question to Fed chief Ben Bernanke Thursday.... More»

Chinese investors approached the Alberta Investment Management Corp., a Canadian pension fund, to consider a possible joint bid for Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the fund's chief executive officer told BNN Television television today.... More»

Royal Bank of Scotland is axing another 3,500 jobs, taking to almost 27,000 the number of staff cut since Stephen Hester took over as chief executive of the troubled UK bank less than two years ago.... More»

Saab AB is stepping up a campaign to sell its Gripen warplane in Asia and eastern Europe as Switzerland's decision to delay a $1 billion fighter purchase threatens to curtail production of the 1,320 mile-per-hour jet.... More»

London Underground railway workers will go ahead with strikes starting next week, after talks on safety and staffing levels broke down, the RMT union said.... More»

Samsung has become the latest challenger to enter the tablet computer battle, unveiling its Galaxy Tab at the IFA conference in Berlin.... More»

Apple has launched a social network as part of the latest version of its iTunes software. Ping, as it is known, allows users to build networks of friends and professional musicians, in a similar way to services such as Twitter.... More»

Sony has launched a new music and video download service as it gears up to challenge Apple's iTunes.... More»

A group of "several hundred" former customers of con man Bernard Madoff objected to a request for $US34.6 million in legal fees by Irving Picard, the trustee overseeing the Madoff bankruptcy, and his law firm.... More»