Business news you can use

The BNZ half-year result is out today, following results from Westpac and ANZ.

What's about to make news in the world of business, finance and economics today?

1. One of our biggest trading banks, the BNZ, is due to release its half-year result today, following Westpac and ANZ this week. How will its profitability be affected by the combination of falling interest rates (good for borrowers, bad for savers) combined with the cut-throat home loan market? Results from the big blue, part of New Zealand history for more than 150 years, are out this morning for the six months to March 31, 2016.

2. The Employers and Manufacturers Association will this morning hold a function to open the EMA Business Hub, its new offices at 145 Khyber Pass Rd in Grafton. The event is at 9.30am.

3. NZX listed company GeoOp is due to hold a special meeting in Auckland. The business provides a cloud based solution for trades and services that replaces inefficient, paper-based systems with a simple way to accurately create, assign, cost, quote and invoice jobs while in the field. The meeting is at Bell Gully, Level 21 Vero Centre, 48 Shortland St and it starts at 9am. It will consider the company's proposed acquisition of InterfaceIT and listing on the ASX.

4. From Australia, new data is due out today on retail sales and international trade.

5. In an international context, earnings announcements are due out from NAB, Alibaba and DreamWorks Animation.

6. Also in Australia, Scentre Group will hold its annual meeting and that business has a huge stake in malls throughout New Zealand. In February, Australasia's largest shopping centre owner and manager announced it planned to spend more than $500 million expanding three Auckland malls and bringing new global retailers here. Peter Allen, Sydney-based chief executive of Scentre Group, which owns and manages the 977-shop, $1.3-billion Westfield malls in New Zealand, told the Herald he expected the first redevelopment this year: Newmarket.

7. The 15th annual corporate insolvency and restructuring conference continues today at the Pullman, Auckland.