In case you missed it: News bites for the week.
Dairy giant Fonterra has confirmed the $4.22 billion sale of its Mainland consumer brands business is now unconditional.
In a statement to the NZX Fonterra said the sale to French multinational Lactalis was expected to complete by the end of March.
The shareholder record date for a capital return of $3.2b representing $2 a share, paid from the sale proceeds, will be April 9 with payment on April 14.
The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Malaysian management consultancy company PBL Solutions over a High Court judgment relating to profits from AFT Pharmaceutical’s use of its topical skin medicine Pascomer as a treatment for port wine stains (PWS).
The Court found AFT wasn’t required to share with PBL Solutions any profit it may earn from Pascomer’s application for the treatment of non-orphan conditions such as PWS, which is a persistent skin discolouration caused by a vascular anomaly estimated to affect three in every 1000 births per year.
However, the listed pharma will continue to share with PBT 35% of any profits earned for orphan drug applications (ones developed to treat medical conditions that are rare). PBL is a company associated with a former contractor to AFT and is a 35% shareholder in AFT Orphan Pharmaceuticals, a company AFT created to pursue orphan applications.
AFT said it doesn’t expect the judgment to have a material effect on its FY2026 earnings.
Alderson Logistics and associated company Supa Shavings have been ordered to pay a $420,000 penalty by the High Court for acquisitions that substantially lessened competition in a market. Commission chair John Small said the decision serves as a warning that acquisitions of this nature are illegal in New Zealand.
In May 2022, Alderson Logistics and Supa Shavings (2022) acquired the assets of close competitors ABS Carriers and Supa Shavings which supplied wood shaving used for bedding to chicken and goat farmers in the Waikato region. The deal eliminated any competition between them.
Justice Dani Gardiner said the two companies accepted they gained commercially from the deal for around a year until a shavings supply shock in June 2023 affected profitability. The Commission unsuccessfully asked the businesses to divest the acquired assets – the first time it has tried to use those powers for a company that had admitted it had breached s47 of the Commerce Act – but a potential sale by Alderson fell through.
A group of New Zealand truck owners have settled a claim against vehicle manufacturer and distributor Hino for $10.9 million.
In 2022, Hino admitted it had falsified fuel efficiency and emissions testing data to secure vehicle certification in Japan.
The claimants alleged that Hino misreported engine performance data for thousands of new and used diesel vehicles manufactured and exported to New Zealand between 2010 and 2022. The claim, filed in March 2025, also alleged Hino failed to meet its obligations under New Zealand consumer protection laws. Hino denied those allegations.
Shine Lawyers NZ represented the complainants. “While no admission of liability has been made as part of the settlement, it provides certainty and a pathway to compensation for affected class members, without the need for protracted litigation," solicitor Heidi Gwynne said.
The settlement is conditional on court approval.
Government minister and Whangarei MP Dr Shane Reti is stepping down from politics at the election. Reti was first elected in 2014 and has served as deputy leader of the National Party and interim leader between Judith Collins stepping down and Christopher Luxon assuming the leadership. In this term of government, he was appointed Minister of Health but lost that role in early 2025 when he became Minister of Science, Innovation, and Technology. He is also Minister of Pacific Peoples, Statistics, and Universities. He said reshaping the science and technology sector by amalgamating seven Crown Research Institutes into three Public Research Organisations had been a privilege.
Bremworth will have to wait a little longer to find out if it can sell its business to the owners of Godfrey Hirst. The NZX-listed carpet market told the market this morning that the Commerce Commission had extended the deadline for its decision to April 2 from March 13. Bremworth said an extension was not unusual and reflected the regulator’s need to give careful consideration to all relevant evidence. The competition watchdog is weighing whether the sale of Bremworth to New York-listed Mohawk Industries would substantially lessen competition in the New Zealand flooring market. It gave the proposal an initial thumbs down in its preliminary decision in December. Bremworth announced in October plans to sell its business to Mohawk in a deal that was expected to return between $74.1m and $81.1m to shareholders. However, this has been revised down recently amid weaker-than-expected trading, which has affected the capital return shareholders would receive as part of the sale.
The stock exchange regulator has imposed a trading halt on mining start-up Taiko Critical Minerals after it released a “financial model” on the possible returns from its West Coast project on Wednesday morning. NZ RegCo said the halt would be in place until the market opens on Friday or a further announcement from Taiko about the financial model. Taiko listed its shares on the NZX on March 5 at a “reference price” of 11c for a market capitalisation of $45 million. The company is pre-revenue and provided no prospective financial statements for the listing. The shares last traded at 21.5c. Its “financial model” announcement included projections of life-of-mine revenue and internal rate of return for the industrial minerals scheme near Barrytown. The statement described it as “a financially robust project”, with the details to be confirmed by a definitive feasibility study later this year.
Chris Hipkins.
Contact Energy has announced it will accept a further $50 million in subscriptions for its retail share offer after receiving a higher-than-expected level of applications. In a statement to the NZX, Contact said the retail offer, priced at $8.75 a share, would now raise $125m. The company said applications would be scaled after it received eligible subscriptions totalling $251m from 29,727 shareholders, significantly more than the 18,667 who participated in its 2021 retail offer. The retail offer will settle on March 13, adding to $450m raised in an underwritten placement to institutions.
New Zealand migration has improved as fewer Kiwis decide to leave the country.
Statistics NZ data today showed a provisional annual net gain of 23,200 people in the year to January, compared with a gain of 19,700 the previous year, as arrivals outpaced departures.
However, the annual gain was still well below a peak set in October 2023 at 135,500.
On a monthly basis, there was a net gain of 4800 in January, compared with a gain of just 100 the same month last year.
Meanwhile, the post-Covid tourism recovery continues as more overseas tourists flock to New Zealand for a holiday.
Stats NZ said today that there were 385,400 overseas visitor arrivals in January, up 15,200 from the same month last year.
There were 10,700 more Aussies holidaying here during the month, as well as an extra 3700 people from the UK. On the flipside, Asia’s economic woes continue to weigh on travel, with fewer tourists from China and Korea.
A trading halt for newly listed mining minnow Taiko Critical Minerals will continue until Tuesday March 17 as it prepares a further market announcement about a “financial model” released on March 11.
The model included estimates of equity returns and revenues from the company’s proposed mining activity near Barrytown. Shortly after its release NZX RegCo imposed a trading halt in Taiko’s shares while it “discusses with TCM the market announcement”.
The halt was due to end on Friday morning but Taiko sought an extension “to further discuss the announcement”.
“TCM considers it appropriate that no trading occurs while these discussions occur, and prior to release of a further market announcement, to ensure trading in TCM securities can occur on a fair, orderly and transparent basis,” it said.
Taiko shares last traded at 21.5c, valuing the pre revenue company at $87.9 million.
NZX-listed Metro Performance Glass expects to significantly reduce its full-year loss. The company said in a trading update it expects to report between a $2m loss and a $2m profit in the 12 months ended March, compared with a $16.6m loss in the prior year. Revenue is expected to be about 9% below its prior forecast of $226m, due to lower volumes and pricing pressures. Meanwhile, MPG expects its full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation will be below its prior guidance of $15.4m. The company said the construction market has not improved since its half-year update, particularly in the North Island and in New South Wales. However, there has been some improvement in recent months. Despite these challenges, net debt levels are expected to be close to the level they were at in September, which the company said showed the resilience of its balance sheet and cost-cutting measures. The effect of rising fuel prices at this stage is unknown.
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