June 2004

Ophthalmological Society Fined $100,000
The High Court has fined the Ophthalmological Society of New Zealand Inc $100,000 and two ophthalmologists a total of $30,000 for contravening the anti-competitive provisions of the Commerce Act. In the Wellington High Court, Justice Gendall ordered the Ophthalmological Society to pay $100,000, Dr Brett Rogers to pay $25,000 and Dr Mark Elder to pay $5,000. [...]

Trend In Number of New Dwelling Units Declines
Building consents issued in May 2004 confirmed a downward trend in the number of new dwelling units since January 2004, according to Statistics New Zealand. This follows a period of steady increases to the trend series which began in May 2003. Consents were issued for 2,544 new dwelling units in the month of May 2004. The [...]

Contact Signs Deals With Mighty River Power
Contact Energy announced today that it has reached agreement with Mighty River Power to close out two long term hedging contracts between the companies. The two contracts were written at different times and effectively offset each other in all respects, except that they contain different hedge prices. Because they offset each other, the contracts (and their [...]

Contact Granted Petroleum Exploration Permit
Contact Energy announced today that it has been granted a petroleum exploration permit by Crown Minerals for an area in the offshore Taranaki basin. The area lies close to a number of permits held by other parties, which have recently shown encouraging results from test drilling. As a condition of receiving the permit, Contact will begin [...]

Load Limit Increased For Upper South Island Region
National grid owner and operator Transpower says the commissioning of four inter-trip schemes over the next few days will allow the peak demand load limit for the upper South Island to be increased by 25 MW to 1055 MW. This will significantly reduce the risk of forced power outages this winter. The inter-trip schemes are being commissioned [...]

Current Account Deficit Narrows
Latest figures show a reduction of $22 million in the current account deficit when seasonal effects are removed, according to Statistics New Zealand. This follows a $448 million decrease in the deficit from the September 2003 quarter to the December 2003 quarter. The underlying trend estimate is showing a narrowing of the deficit in the [...]

Carter Holt Harvey Purchase World-Class Chinese Panels Business
Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) today announced it has signed an agreement to purchase Chinese premium panels manufacturer Plantation Timber Products (PTP) for US$134 million. PTP is a world-class manufacturer of speciality Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) and flooring products, drawing on sustainably managed plantation timber to service the high growth domestic Chinese furniture, flooring and panels markets. Chief [...]

NZ Honey Bees Recognised In Prestigious Awards
Hardworking New Zealand Manuka Honey Bees have been recognised for the first time at the highly prestigious Salon International de L’Alimentation (SIAL) International Food Exhibition in France. The bees that exclusively collect raw ingredients from the flagrant blossoms of the Manuka tree to produce a rich Manuka Honey essence have won a gold medal for their [...]

Aquanaut Admits Commerce Act breach
The Commerce Commission is highlighting to businesses that the practice of resale price maintenance, where a supplier of goods specifies the minimum price that a reseller can charge for those goods, is prohibited under the Commerce Act, and that the Commission will take action where such behaviour is detected. Dive equipment wholesaler Aquanaut Pty Limited has [...]

Visitor Arrivals Up 29 Percent
There were 132,700 short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in May 2004, up 30,000 or 29 percent on May 2003, according to Statistics New Zealand. This exceeds the 27 percent increase of April 1992 on April 1991. In May 2004, there were more visitors from countries in Asia (up 16,400 or 82 percent), Australia (up [...]

Sky City Approved For Interest In ChristChurch Casino
SKY CITY Entertainment Group advises that all conditions have now been met for its proposed acquisition of Aspinall (NZ) Limited which in turn owns a 40.5% shareholding in Christchurch Casino. The Casino Control Authority gave licencing approval to SKYCITY today, which follows the Commerce Commission’s and the Overseas Investment Commission’s approvals for the purchase of the 40.5% [...]

ABC Motor Group Convicted For Second Time
ABC Motor Group Limited has been convicted of breaching the Fair Trading Act for the second time in three years over failure to adequately disclose important conditions in advertising. ABC Motor Group today pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to ten charges of breaching the Fair Trading Act. Judge Kiernan fined the company $31,000 plus [...]

Powerco Revises Financial Statements
Potential changes to Powerco's ownership have had an impact on Powerco's previously reported results of the year ended 31 March 2004, the Company announced today. The recent announcements that the company's three major shareholders, the New Plymouth District Council, the Taranaki Electricity Trust, and the Powerco Wanganui Trust, are considering selling their Powerco shares have triggered [...]

VTL Group Limited Grows In Texas
VTL Group Limited (NZX: VTL) announced today that it had purchased the assets of American vending company Adolphs Vending Service Inc., based in Dallas, Texas for NZD$3,800,000. Adolphs has been operating profitably in the Dallas market for over 50 years. Adolphs is a full line-vending operator, whose service offering includes drinks, snacks and coffee and currently [...]

NZ Companies Gain A Helping Hand To Set Up In The UK
New Zealand companies wanting to set up in the United Kingdom can now access support from both New Zealand's and the United Kingdom's trade and investment agencies. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise chief executive Tim Gibson and UK Trade and Investment Inward Investment Group chief executive William Pedder signed a memorandum of understanding between the two [...]

Manufacturing Sales Increase 3.2 Percent
Seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales for the March 2004 quarter increased by 3.2 percent, compared with the December 2003 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. With the effect of price changes removed, seasonally adjusted manufacturing sales increased by 2.5 percent over the same period. Thirteen of 15 industries recorded increases in seasonally adjusted sales in the March [...]

Food Prices Fall In May
Food prices fell 0.4 percent in May 2004, according to latest figures from Statistics New Zealand. Lower prices for fruit and vegetables; and grocery food, soft drinks and confectionery were partly offset by higher prices for meat, fish and poultry; and restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food. Prices for fruit and vegetables fell by 3.1 percent [...]

Retail Sales Decrease 0.3 Percent In April
Seasonally adjusted total retail sales decreased 0.3 percent in April 2004, compared with March 2004, according to Statistics New Zealand. This follows an increase of 2.1 percent in March 2004 and a decrease of 1.7 percent in February 2004. Excluding the motor vehicle related industries, seasonally adjusted sales decreased 0.8 percent in April 2004, compared [...]

Manufacturing expansion weakens slightly in May
New Zealand manufacturing expansion weakened slightly in May but the outlook still remains positive, according to the latest ANZ-Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI). New Zealand’s PMI value declined slightly from 54.8 in April to 54.1 in May (a PMI reading above 50 points indicates expansion and below 50 indicates decline). This remains 4.5 points [...]

Rising Trend In Guest Nights Continues
The underlying trend in total guest nights in short-term commercial accommodation has been rising since June 1998, according to Statistics New Zealand. In April 2004, the trend level in total guest nights was 5 percent higher than in April 2003 and 7 percent higher than in April 2002. Actual total guest nights were 2.7 million in [...]

Terms of Trade Rise 2.1 Percent
The merchandise terms of trade rose 2.1 percent in the March 2004 quarter, according to the latest Overseas Trade Index figures released by Statistics New Zealand. The rise is due to import prices falling more than export prices in the latest quarter, and means that more imports can be funded by a fixed quantity of [...]

AA Petrol Watch June 2004
AA Petrol Watch observed that fuel prices increased significantly at the pump during the month of May to reach record highs. These price increases reflected an increase in the international price of oil and further fluctuations in the exchange rate. The nation-wide average price of 91 Octane increased by 10 cents throughout May from 113.5 cents [...]

Pumpkin Patch Limited Listing on NZX
Pumpkin Patch Limited is pleased to announce that its shares will today list on the New Zealand Exchange. The listing follows the successful initial public offer and book build which was completed on Friday 4 June 2004. Pumpkin Patch has been delighted with the high level of retail and institutional investor support that it has [...]

Waveshield pleads guilty to breaching Fair Trading
A rehearing of a Commerce Commission case against Waveshield (New Zealand) Limited and its director Miles Dixon for falsely claiming that the 'Wave Shield' mobile phone radiation protection device blocked up to 97 percent of electromagnetic radiation from the inner ear and had been 'tested' and 'proven' has resulted in a $4,000 fine. Judge Noble commented [...]

False Claims Will Breach Fair Trading Act
The Commerce Commission is reminding traders that falsely claiming membership or approval of a trade organisation is a breach of the Fair Trading Act. Green Acres Trade Service Limited, a major franchising group offering a range of home services, has acknowledged its advertising, in both the Wellington and Auckland editions of the Yellow Pages, breached the [...]

42 Below wins a gold and a silver medal
Auckland, 8th March: New Zealand vodka and gin maker 42 Below (FTB) today announced that it has won a gold medal for 42 BELOW Pure Vodka and a silver medal for SOUTH Gin at the 42nd World Selection 2004 of Spirits and Liqueurs, Monde Selectionâ, run by the International Institute for Quality Selections. The Brussels spirit [...]

Overseas Merchandise Trade (Exports): April 2004
April Trade Deficit Updated The provisional value of merchandise exports for April 2004 is $2,687 million, updating the estimate of $2,710 million published on 27 May 2004, according to Statistics New Zealand. The provisional value of merchandise imports is $2,844 million, resulting in a merchandise trade deficit of $157 million or 5.9 percent of exports. The underlying [...]

Strong Growth Expected In Agricultural Exports
New Zealand can expect to see a big increase in the value of our agricultural exports over the next three years along with a slowly depreciating dollar, according to the latest MAF Situation and Outlook for New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry. The Situation and Outlook report says the value of New Zealand's pastoral agriculture, horticulture and [...]

Suspect Varroa In South Island
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has imposed movement controls on the North Canterbury region following the detection of the bee pest Varroa destructor. MAF Varroa Programme Coordinator Paul Bolger said that final confirmation of the origin of the mite will not be available until early next week. Nevertheless MAF is taking a precautionary approach. "A [...]

Value of Residential Building Work Up 13 Percent
The seasonally adjusted value of residential building work put in place increased 13 percent in the March 2004 quarter, when compared with the December 2003 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. The actual value of residential building work put in place was $1,687 million in the March 2004 quarter, up $392 million (30 percent) when [...]

May New Vehicle Sales Remain Strong
Strong new vehicle sales in May ensured that the growth path experienced over the last three years continued. 5871 new cars and 1867 new commercial vehicles found buyers in May, each well ahead of May 2003. For the five months year to date new car sales are 11% ahead of the same period last year, [...]

Satisfied Customers Help PSIS Grow
PSIS continues its path of sustained growth with another excellent result. For the year ended 31 March 2004, the financial services co-operative has announced a pre-tax profit of $10.8 million, up 7.6% on the same period in the previous year. PSIS Chief Executive, Girol Karacaoglu said: "Our success has been built on our distinctive strengths: the [...]

Commerce Commission And Police Net Three Arrests
Three men have been arrested by Dunedin Police and charged under the Crimes Act in relation to a Commerce Commission investigation into an international operation involving the sale of speakers from the back of vans that hit New Zealand shores earlier this year. The Commission has been investigating the operation since it received information from its [...]

Wholesale Activity Increases in March Quarter
Seasonally adjusted wholesale sales increased 1.5 percent in the March 2004 quarter, compared with the December 2003 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. This follows rises of 3.7 percent and 0.5 percent in the December 2003 and September 2003 quarters, respectively. Among the largest increases in seasonally adjusted sales this quarter were machinery and equipment not [...]

Electricity Generation Up in March Quarter
Seasonally adjusted electricity generation increased by 2.6 percent in the March 2004 quarter compared with the December 2003 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. In the March 2004 quarter, hydro generation (6,657 gigawatt hours) was 20.6 percent higher than in the March 2003 quarter, while thermal generation (2,373 gigawatt hours) was 20.0 percent lower than in [...]

New Holding Tanks Boost To Sth Island Fuel Supply
BP officially opened three new bulk fuel storage tanks at the Port of Lyttleton today, representing a $15 million investment in the South Island's fuel infrastructure. The three new bulk storage tanks which make up the 'tank farm' will increase the Port's fuel capacity by over 30 per cent. The three eight million litre tanks will [...]

Auckland International Airport Limited Bond Issue
AIA is considering making an offer of securities (”Bonds”) to the public and as a result will be issuing an investment statement. No money is currently being sought and no applications for Bonds will be accepted or money received unless the subscriber has received an investment statement. Bank of New Zealand has been appointed as Lead [...]