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First published on Photo: Kiwibank By Martien Lubberink, associate professor of accounting and capital, Te Herenga Waka Victoria University To sell, or not to sell - that is the question various governments have asked since Kiwibank was established in 2002. Now it's the turn of the current National-led coalition to examine the bank's state ownership. Ministers have asked Kiwibank's board to explore avenues for the bank's expansion, potentially including private sector or Crown entity investment. This comes just two years after the previous Labour government spent NZ$2.1 billion to secure complete ownership of Kiwibank, and is part of the coalition's drive for productivity, growth and public sector efficiency. The latest attempt to help the bank prosper while stayin...

Photo: 123rf The High Court has placed Auckland property investor and developer Du Val Group into interim receivership. The interim orders were made against Du Val Capital Partners, together with a number of entities within the Group - at the request of the government financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Interim receivership orders were also made against directors Kenyon and Charlotte Clarke. The court also approved the FMA's request for asset preservation orders. The order comes as the FMA carries out an investigation into Du Val Group. The FMA said it would not provide further comment but noted there were about 120 investors in the Du Val entities, marketed as wholesale investments. It said John Fisk, Stephen White and Lara Bennett of PwC have been appointed inte...

Briscoe Group is considering the future of its investment in KMD Brands. Photo: RNZ Retailer Briscoe Group is thinking about the future of its investment in struggling outdoor goods business KMD Brands. Briscoes owns nearly 7 percent of KMD shares and revealed its half-year results would be affected by KMD failing to pay an interim dividend. Last year, Briscoes received $1.4 million in interim dividends from KMD - the owner of outdoor brands Kathmandu, Oboz and Rip Curl. KMD recently announced its second-half sales were down more than 8 percent from a year ago. In an interview with RNZ Business, Rod Duke was asked whether it was worth being invested in KMD Brands. "It's a very good question that we're all in this office pondering over," Duke said. "We're evaluating that every board meet...

Vero signage on an Auckland building Photo: Supplied / vero.co.nz The sale of one of the country's biggest office blocks to a Hong Kong-China company has collapsed. Kiwi Property Group (KPG) said it has terminated the $458 million sale of the 38-storey Vero Centre in Auckland after the unnamed buyer failed to meet key conditions. Chief executive Clive Mackenzie said they had tried to get the deal done over the past few months. "Despite our best efforts, the purchaser has now missed the deadline for milestones such as paying the deposit and seeking Overseas Investment Office approval for the deal and, as a result, we've made the difficult decision to terminate the conditional sale contract." The company was not available to comment on whether it would look for another buyer or take the b...

There's a general trend of declining mortgage interest rates. Photo: RNZ Banks are competing hard to win customers' money in what appears to be an escalating mortgage war. ANZ cut interest rates again this week, but notably it has also trimmed its floating mortgage rate by 15 basis points - the first bank to do so in a while. It followed a general trend of declining mortgage interest rates in recent weeks as wholesale rates eased in anticipation of the Reserve Bank lowering the official cash rate. Mortgage advisor Mikey Smith from Guardian Smith said banks have targeted borrowers coming up for renewal, and he has seen increasing wiggle room from banks' during negotiations. "It's very noticeable, I feel like I'm updating people everyday, There's a new rate available for them - I think mo...