Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that the School Journal would continue despite the decision to close the state-owned enterprise that produced it.

If history is any guide, the upcoming referendum on the sale of state owned assets will achieve a huge vote in favour of no more sale.

Prime Minister John Key says the asset sales referendum will be an "utter waste of money" and the sales process could be completed before it is held.

Investors in soon-to-be-floated Meridian Energy could receive a net dividend yield of up to 6.8 per cent, based on analyst valuations.

Five months after the first share float of Mighty River Power a referendum on asset sales is to go ahead - news accidentally tweeted by the Greens co-leader.

For a man who claims to have become an accountant out of sheer laziness, Paul Chambers has a lot on his plate.

No sooner had Mark Binns taken over as chief executive of Meridian Energy in January last year, than he was confronted with the lowest inflows into its hydro lakes in more than 80 years.

Shares in Mighty River Power traded at $2.18 this morning, their lowest point since listing on May 10.

Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English have revealed a new strategy for the Meridian Energy share offering.

Meridian Energy - the jewel in the Government's portfolio of crown assets - may be worth nearly $2 billion less than it was valued at a year ago when it is finally listed.

The Government has turned up the sweeteners to attract retail investors to the Meridian Energy sharemarket float but analysts say punters need to remain wary of the potential downsides.

A big questionmark remains as to the wisdom of rushing another and bigger float in a state-owned generator so soon after Mighty River Power, writes John Armstrong.

Markets writer Tamsyn Parker says details for Meridian Energy's share market float provide both a huge incentive and the potential for a huge disaster for investors, writes Tamsyn Parker.

Details of the Meridian Energy share float have been released, and new shareholders will only have to pay 60 per cent up front for a stake in our biggest power company.

Ninety-three people will lose their jobs at Huntly East Underground Mine in more cutbacks announced today by struggling State-owned coal miner Solid Energy.

Meridian's deal with Rio Tinto to keep the Tiwai Point smelter open until January 2017 has cleared the way for its sharemarket listing.

Meridian Energy could be listed on the sharemarket before the end of October after clearing a big hurdle by finalising contract talks over the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter.

Meridian's deal with New Zealand Aluminium Smelters is a good short term solution to create certainty around its share market listing, says one analyst.

A $30m subsidy from the government has helped Meridian resolve its negotiations with Rio Tinto to keep the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter running until 2017.

When politicians talk about making the labour market more flexible, it means ensuring that the demand and supply of labour determines the wage rate. writes Peter Lyons.

There's huge support for the government's partial privatisation programme, with 84 per cent of CEOs saying it should ready other SOEs for partial sale.