Banks that lent unsustainable amounts of debt to state-owned coal miner Solid Energy are taking a $75 million “hair-cut”, dressed up as an issue of redeemable preference shares that may never be repaid. After eight months of negotiations between the Treasury and the group of Australasian and Japanese lenders to the troubled coal company, Finance and State-Owned Enterprises Ministers Bill …

New listings of houses for sale stalled in September, according to online advertiser realestate.co.nz, but the usual spring surge is still expected in October and November, despite new lending restrictions coming into force today. The site’s marketing manager, Peter McKenzie, told BusinessDesk the 5.3 percent fall in listings between August and September was the first such drop since 2007, but …

Harbour Asset Management, the Wellington-based boutique fund manager, has emerged as a substantial security holder in Tower following yesterday’s placement to sell Guinness Peat Group’s stake in the general insurer. Harbour Asset holds 12.95 million shares, or about 6.3 percent of Tower, it said in a statement to the NZX. First NZ Capital handled the placement of GPG’s 33.6 percent …

The New Zealand dollar jumped against the greenback overnight as investors weigh the imminent prospects of a partial US government shutdown later today should Congress fail to reach agreement on funding. The kiwi rose to 83.03 US cents at 8am in Wellington, from 82.84 cents at the 5pm market close in Wellington yesterday, making it the strongest performer versus the …

Stocks fell on both sides of the Atlantic, while US Treasuries gained as the midnight deadline to reach an agreement on continuing to fund the US government approached with no deal in sight. At the centre of the standstill is President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which Tea Party activists in the Republican Party are determined to block. Congress is …

The New Zealand dollar may decline toward the end of the year, helping exporters such as fishing company Sanford who see the value of their overseas sales eroded when the currency rises. The kiwi, which recently traded at 83.16 US cents, is likely to decline to 79.50 US cents by the end of 2013 as the US starts trimming back …

New Zealand shares fell, paced by Telecom and MightyRiverPower, ahead of a possible US budget stalemate and as the government scheduled a referendum on state asset sales for after the selldown of Meridian Energy that went on sale today. The NZX 50 Index fell 46.292 points, or about 1 percent, to 4736.387. Within the index, 37 stocks fell, four rose …

Global telecommunications giant Samsung of Korea has taken a stake in Kiwi wireless power system innovator PowerbyProxi, investing $4 million in a deal to start licencing the firm’s consumer electronics and home appliance wireless power technology. The strategic partnership is a huge win for PowerbyProxi, a spin-out company from University of Auckland’s School of Engineering, based in the city’s Freeman’s …

The New Zealand dollar may decline this week as investors shun growth sensitive currencies amid a possible US government shutdown. The local currency may trade between 81 US cents and 84.05 cents this week, according to a BusinessDesk survey of nine traders and strategists. Five expect the currency to decline while two expect it to advance and two say it …

New Zealand business confidence climbed to a new five-year high, with construction firms still the most upbeat on profits, hiring and investments. A net 54 percent of firms expect general business conditions to improve in the year ahead, up from 48.1 percent in August and the highest since March 1999, according to the ANZ Business Outlook survey. Firms seeing a …