![Meridian may be worth $2b less than year ago](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=795)
Meridian may be worth $2b less than year ago
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Treasury document obtained by Labour details a host of "initiatives" in this year's Budget which would be paid for by the asset sales fund, writes John Armstrong.
Funding generated by the Government's asset sales programme now extends to the $40 million bill for the Mighty River share loyalty bonus scheme.
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.
Herein lies the opportunity for NZ, writes Frank Duffield. Its resource base is largely underexplored, and world-scale natural gas discoveries are quite possible.
The New Zealand government posted a smaller operating deficit than forecast in the 11 months ended May 31.
"Was it greed or was it just a case of really bad timing?" asks Liam Dann. "Probably the latter, as the Government must have been hoping for a result which would help promote the next three asset sales to New Zealanders."
Mighty River Power shares slumped to a new low of $2.23 this morning as the local stock exchange followed world markets down, reaching its lowest point in a month.