New Zealanders saving for retirement should not panic over the volatility in the market, despite being caught up in an economic "triple crunch", Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan said in Dunedin yesterday.
Telecom announced a profit decline yesterday of 34% to $149 million for its first quarter trading, in line with forecasts and expectations, as it enters what will be a crucial seven-month period of capital expenditure.
Unemployment has jumped to 4.2%, its highest level in almost five years, while the labour market has made a 0.1% gain in jobs, the latter against expectations.
World Bank economist and University of Otago graduate Amanda Ellis is giving a sponsored public lecture tonight in Dunedin on: How Women are Changing the World of Business - A World Bank Perspective.
Market leader Telecom is forecast to deliver about a 45% decline in after-tax profit as it begins rebuilding itself and setting the foundation for its new mobile network, when it reports its first-quarter result tomorrow.
Fossilised diatomite from Middlemarch is being field tested as a fertiliser and soil conditioner in Australia and around Dunedin in what could become a replacement or alternative for the standard hard-fertiliser traditionally used on farms.
Retailer Briscoes Group has reported a more than 11% decline in sales for the third quarter as New Zealand households begin belt-tightening as the recession bites into household budgets.
Unemployment levels are at record lows, but a sharp rise in the jobless level is coming, with 6% unemployment possible by the end of next year as businesses defer hiring staff or replacing those leaving, ASB economist Jane Turner predicts.
Port Otago looks set to become the South Island's major port through a proposed merger with long-term rival Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC).
Oceana Gold still appears dogged by the credit crunch in its effort to reignite investment in its stalled Didipio gold and copper mine development in the Philippines.
New Zealand's shipping sector is on the verge of a new era, with the ports of Otago and Canterbury being the first to initiate major change. Business reporter Simon Hartley investigates whether the parochialism of Port Otago and Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) can be set aside for the benefit of Otago and Canterbury in a proposed merger.
Port Otago's 100% owner, the Otago Regional Council, is "fully supportive" of the proposed merger with Lyttelton Port of Christchurch, but it will have the final say and it appears retention of dividend payments will be the clincher.
Maersk shipping line - the largest container carrier in the world and Port Otago's biggest customer - has tentatively welcomed discussion on a merger proposal between the port companies of Lyttelton and Port Chalmers.
Consumers and the retail sector are set to be the big losers as the New Zealand dollar slumps.
Two Dunedin companies have made the annual Deloitte Unlimited Fast 50 list, including gas heater manufacturer Escea, which is one of only a handful of companies to have repeatedly made the cut to remain on the list.
Bargain hunters, and expectations central bank interest rates around the world would be slashed to stave off recession, propped up staggering sharemarkets, with wild upswings not seen in decades.
The United States Federal Reserve central bank will supply a $US15 billion ($NZ26.6 billion) facility to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to ensure the availability of US dollars here, in another move to ease the credit crunch.
Listed New Zealand Oil and Gas has acquired the 40% permit share of Australian company Tap Oil in the Canterbury Basin
New Zealand's sharemarket followed the earlier rout of Asian and United States markets yesterday and closed down 3.4% at a more-than-four-year low.
A consumer backlash against Contact Energy has prompted an estimate that the company will lose 5% of its customers - and its share target value has been downgraded by brokerage firm Forsyth Barr.
