Week in review

Friday 27th February 2004

The Ministry of Health signed a 12-year lease for three of the four floors at AMP NZ Office Trust's redevelopment of Wellington's No 3, The Terrace.

Fletcher Challenge Forests changed its name to Tenon, a carpentry term referring to a strong joint. Shareholders approved the sale of the bulk of its forests to a consortium of private investors and US pension funds.

AMP said it expected its 2004 operating net profit before goodwill and other items to be $A600 million ($679 million) to $A620 million, well above the range of $A402 to $A535 million indicated in the explanatory memorandum for the HHG separation.

Mainfreight and Owens Group obtained NZX market surveillance panel rulings that they need not obtain shareholder approval for regional agency freight delivery and shared IT transactions.

Two experienced explorers, Texas-based Pogo Producing Company and Australia's Roc Oil, won Taranaki exploration permits.

Powerco is offering up to $250 million of bonds to refinance bank debt taken on to acquire UnitedNetworks assets.

Carter Holt Harvey and Norske Skog are asking the High Court to block the sale by Tenon (the former Fletcher Challenge Forests) of the 20,700ha Tarawera forest, according to the Dominion Post.

An $11.5 million deal to sell Richmond's Waitotara plant to Canterbury Meat Packers fell over, leading industry commentators to claim the building of more North Island capacity was now inevitable.

Amid Richard Branson-style fanfare, Qantas Airways' domestic low-cost offspring Jetstar announced it would operate 88 flights a day from May 25 from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and 10 other eastern Australian centres.

Fonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden told farmers the co-operative's milksolids payout would not fall below $3, despite the high New Zealand dollar.

Auckland International Airport made a second, "supplementary" submission opposing a proposal by Infratil and Waitakere City Council to turn the Whenuapai air force base into a second Auckland commercial airport.

BIL International said its December first half-profit was $S28 million ($23.6 million), up from a $S31.7 million loss a year ago.

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