English confirms no surplus, secret investors' negligence case, ICT special feature

In NBR Print today: The government’s promised budget surplus wont happen this year, says Finance Minister Bill English. A deficit of around half a billion dollars for the year to June, rather than a surplus, is the most likely outcome, he told Rob Hosking.

The soaring New Zealand dollar is the last thing Cavalier [NZX:CAV] chief executive Colin Mckenzie was looking forward to. Meanwhile, as Chris Hutching reports, consulting firm Deloitte is now working with the company on a three-year plan as Cavalier pins its hopes on a wool scour merger to revive its fortunes.

Testing for 1080 in infant formula could have started as soon as threatening letters were received in late November, instead of mid February, Jamie Ball reveals. The delay in testing has put in dispute government assurances to consumers about the frequency and rigour of the testing programme following the blackmail threat to poison baby formula that wasn’t made public until March 10.

Annuity demand has traditionally been sluggish in New Zealand but as KiwiSaver balances mature, increasingly retirees will look for alternative income streams rather than risk their savings giving up before their bodies do. Calida Smylie reports.

Special feature: Grasping the power of ICT - The relentless march of technology often feels as though buying new gadgets will never end. But the reality is, much of what a company needs to develop a competitive edge or stay secure already exists inside the office. Data analytics wouldn’t work if businesses had no customers and security is only as robust as the person operating the programs. The connecting thread? It’s the people, the employees and the customers that matter most. Technology can keep progressing. It will be the people using it that benefit the most. This NBR special feature looks closer at how the things a company already does can boost its market position with minimal effort.

The listed food and beverage investor which owns the Mad Butcher franchise insists the meat has not gone off at the retail butchery chain, despite a string of liquidations this year. It seems investors think otherwise, however, with Veritas Investments’ [NZX:VIL] share price having fallen 16c in recent weeks, prompting an NZX announcement from the company on Tuesday. Hamish McNicol investigates.

Litigation funders are unlikely to be deterred from taking future shareholder claims in this country following the Feltex case, the Shareholders Association says. Chairman John Hawkins says having read Justice Robert Dobson’s September judgment he is not surprised at the quantum of the costs award to the defendants. Duncan Bridgeman reports.

A High Court judge is keeping secret a dispute between investors and their former firm Somerset Smith Partners. The North Island-based firm has been advising clients since 1934 and has been a registered financial services provider since the list was established. Victoria Young has the story.

On the surface, the Reserve Bank’s latest projection for the 90-day bank bill rate implies the official cash rate (OCR) will remain unchanged at 3.50% for the next two years. This masks some powerful arguments to hike the OCR and equally compelling reasons to cut. Which of these wins may depend crucially on the timing of developments in the foreign exchange market. The projections also mask what some believe to be a vigorous internal debate about the direction of the next OCR move, says Harbour Asset Management’s Christian Hawkesby.

In property, Chris Hutching reports why the High Court has refused to grant Federated Farmers leave to appeal decisions about the Mackenzie Council’s district plan.

And Sally Lindsay says greater Wellington Regional Council will probably lose most of the money it invested in its Wakefield St office tower.

Ad Media reporter Campbell Gibson looks over the $12 million New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) spends each year on road safety advertising in the hopes of reducing this country’s road toll.

All this and more in today’s National Business Review. Out now.