Article - Businesswire Pulse changes tack with cut-price power brand by Pattrick Smellie July 30 (BusinessDesk) - Start-up electricity retailer Pulse Utilities Ltd is changing tack to offer cut-price power under a new brand, Just Energy, which will not use Pulse's smart meter technology.To date, fast-growing Pulse has sought to attract customers on the promise of installing smart meters, which may help customers to manage their energy use better, as well as competitive... more>

Article - Businesswire Telecom in trading halt as AAPT sale loomsBy Paul McBethJuly 30 (BusinessDesk) – Shares in Telecom Corp. have been put into a halt amid expectations of an announcement on the sale of its Australian unit AAPT. The shares rose 0.5% to a two-month high $2.00 in trading this morning as rumours of a sale gathered pace in the past day. Shares in iiNet Ltd. were halted yesterday, and the Australian newspaper reported it will buy the struggling retail unit for A$60... more>

Article - Businesswire PharmaZen says benefits of rising export volumes eroded by high kiwiBy Paul McBethJuly 30 (BusinessDesk) – PharmaZen Ltd., the biotechnology company that supplies animal and health powder products, said the high kiwi dollar had eroded the benefits of increased export volumes.The Christchurch-based company reported a profit before tax of $210,000 in the six months ended June 30, compared to $157,000 last year. Turnover grew 6.4% to $2.98 million after it boosted... more>

Article - Businesswire NZ home building consents stay in the doldrums, commercial permits sinkBy Paul McBethJuly 30 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand’s residential property sector remained subdued last month with permits for new construction edging up from a slump in May, while commercial property extended its decline. Consents for new homes, excluding apartment approvals, rose 1.7% to 1,316 in June from the same month a year ago after a 10% slump a month earlier, according to Statistics... more>

Article - Businesswire Livestock Improvement Corp profit down 43%July 30 (BusinessDesk) - Low milk prices at the peak of Livestock Improvement Corp.'s peak season pushed underlying net earnings for the genetic materials firm down 43% to $9.13 million in the year to May 31, the NZAX-listed company announced today.Stripped of the fluctuating impact of changes in the fair value of its most valuable asset, its $73 million bull team - the result was achieved on turnover of $136.4 million,... more>

Article - Businesswire Fonterra is ‘concerned’ over India milk protests, in talks with Foreign MinistryJuly 30 (BusinessDesk) – Fonterra Cooperative Group said it is concerned about protests in India over imports of New Zealand dairy products and is consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade over the issue.Members of the Hindu nationalist party Shiv Sena attacked a milk tanker at Pune, south of Mumbai this week, spilling milk in protest at the National Dairy... more>

New Zealand Government Govt acts on coronary services report Health Minister Tony Ryall says the findings from an audit of hospital patients with acute coronary syndrome have led to immediate action. The report is published in today's New Zealand Medical Journal, and Mr Ryall says, "The findings reinforce the need for the National Cardiac Clinical Network which was set up last year.""The first priority was reducing cardiac surgery waiting lists, and the next area for improvement in... more>

Article - Businesswire Silver Fern closes Brooks plant in U.K. as consumers lose taste for frozen meatBy Peter KerrJuly 30 (BusinessDesk) - Silver Fern Farms, the Dunedin-headquartered meat processing and marketing cooperative, is to close its frozen meat processing plant, Brooks, in Norwich, England.SFF, which recently closed its Canterbury lamb cutting plant in Christchurch as well as its rendering and casings department at its Belfast plant, bought the Brooks operation in 1998 at a... more>

Article - Businesswire NZ dollar pares loss as US Aaa-rating questioned, Europe’s sentiment improvesBy Paul McBethJuly 30 (BusinessDesk) – The New Zealand dollar pared yesterday’s loss after Moody’s Investors Service questioned America’s Aaa credit rating, while upbeat European sentiment stoked investors to eschew the greenback in favour of higher-yielding, or riskier, assets. A top official at rating agency Moody’s said the world’s biggest economy needs a “credible” plan to address... more>

Column - Gordon Campbell Gordon Campbell on the Chris Carter fiascoIf Chris Carter’s recent trip to Tibet was in search of spiritual enlightenment, he will have come back with a ready explanation for his current problems: bad karma. There can hardly have been a more blatant case of self-inflicted damage to a political career. The state of Phil Goff’s leadership is almost irrelevant to the way Carter has behaved. If Labour can’t win the next election, it can at least lose as narrowly... more>