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Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit Photo: Zespri / supplied Kiwifruit company Zespri continues to crack down on illegal plantings of its SunGold variety in China with three people being sentenced to nearly four years in jail for their involvement in the trade of the fruit. Chinese growers have been illegally planting SunGold or G3, which Zespri owns the rights to, since 2016 when a grower took clippings to China. Zespri has since been working with authorities there to crack down on fraudulent plantings and use of counterfeit packaging. The company said as part of ongoing legal activity to protect the Zespri brand, it recently completed successful prosecutions against three individuals in China for online sales of locally grown fruit with counterfeit Zespri labels to the value of more than NZ$700,...

Photo: 123RF Gender inequities in the workplace lead to talent being lost, poor decision making and lower profits, a professional development expert says. A new survey has found 61 percent of women in leadership positions think gender equality at work has not improved or is worse than five years ago. Professional development group Leadership for Good conducted the survey of more than 100 women working as leaders in New Zealand businesses. It found more than half faced challenges balancing work and personal life and received unequal pay for equal work, while many experienced gendered micro-aggressions. Founder and director Sue Watson said inequality is bad for business. "Companies have often invested heavily to pull these women through their talent pipelines and then a third of them leave...

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Healthcare and animal products company EBOS has posted another year of strong profit growth, with revenue exceeding $13 billion*. Key numbers for the 12 months ended June compared with a year ago: Net profit $271.5m vs $253.4m Revenue $13.12b vs $12.24b Underlying profit from continuing operations $303.4m vs $281.8m Underlying margin 4.35% vs 4.43% FY dividend of NZ $1.18 per share vs $1.10 per share *All numbers quoted in Australian dollars unless otherwise stated AUD$1 = NZ$0.91035 The company's total net profit increased 7.2 percent on the previous year, while revenue increased 7.8 percent. Chief executive John Cullity puts the performance down to strong growth in the company's community pharmacy and institutional healthcare divisions. The healthcare busin...

Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The head of ANZ says the big banks can't afford to be New Zealand owned and have to make profits to keep their overseas shareholders happy. The Commerce Commission released its final personal banking report on Tuesday and said there was little competition in the sector which was dominated by four Australia owned banks making high profits. ANZ New Zealand chief executive Antonia Watson told Morning Report it was true bank profits in New Zealand were higher than many places overseas. She said they needed to provide reasonable a return to shareholders so they would continue to invest in New Zealand. ANZ New Zealand chief executive Antonia Watson. Photo: Photosport "We need to attract that foreign investment. "I'd love to be Kiwi owned right, we can't affo...

Sky TV revenue rose but overall customer numbers fell. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook Sky Network Television has posted a steady full-year result amid a turbulent period for the wider sector. Key numbers for the 12 months ended June 2024 compared with a year ago: Net profit $49.2m vs $51.1m Revenue $766.7m vs $754.3m Expenses $697.4m vs $683.3m Dividend 19 cents per share vs 15 cps Profit fell 4 percent, which the company put down to increased depreciation costs associated with new products, and offset a slight rise in underlying earnings. Revenue rose 2 percent as streaming, broadband and advertising income improved and offset content challenges affecting its streaming service, Neon, and the Sky Box. Overall customer numbers fell 7.5 percent to 939,000. "These overall numbers were impacted by...

Dairy company Synlait is in a desperate fight for survival. Photo: Eiliv Aceron for Unsplash Debt laden dairy company Synlait Milk will raise close to $218 million from its two main shareholders to preserve its future. It revealed details of its desperately needed equity raise after the close of markets on Tuesday night. Synlait's two major shareholders have committed to pay well above its recent market price to ensure its survival. Major shareholder Bright Dairy of China will supply the bulk of the money, $185m, buying new shares at 60 cents each - double the recent market price. That would lift its stake to just over 65 percent. Meanwhile Synlait's major customer A2 Milk will invest nearly $33m, at 43 cents a share, a 43 percent premium to the recent price, preserving the size of its ...

Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The head of ANZ says the big banks can't afford to be New Zealand owned and have to make profits to keep their overseas shareholders happy. The Commerce Commission released its final personal banking report on Tuesday and said there was little competition in the sector which was dominated by four Australia owned banks making high profits. ANZ New Zealand chief executive Antonia Watson told Morning Report it was true bank profits in New Zealand were higher than many places overseas. She said they needed to provide reasonable a return to shareholders so they would continue to invest in New Zealand. ANZ New Zealand chief executive Antonia Watson. Photo: Photosport "We need to attract that foreign investment. "I'd love to be Kiwi owned right, we can't affo...