Coping with monsoons, 40°C-plus heat and waiting weeks for internet or telephone connections are challenges of manufacturing in India described by a Fletcher Building boss.

When Ken Lotu-Iiga landed in South Auckland as a child from Samoa, he could speak not a word of English.

The new British-born head of Fletcher Building earned $3.3 million in the year to June 30, according to the NZX-listed heavyweight's latest annual report.

Analysts at two investment specialists have upgraded Fletcher Building's prospects because of recent success.

Fletcher Building's Winstone Wallboards unit has temporarily closed a plasterboard factory in Christchurch after finding traces of asbestos in the building.

In what turned out to be a tale of two countries, Fletcher Building announced a lift in its annual net profit yesterday, with Australia's economic downturn detracting from a strong showing in New Zealand.

Australia has old-fashioned union arrangements and needs "a dose of Margaret Thatcher," says Mark Adamson, the British chief executive of Fletcher Building.

When Fletcher Building paid around $1 billion for Formica in 2007, the business was only three years out of a financial hole and Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Fletcher Developments wants new houses to be taller than the Auckland Council is proposing.

Fletcher Building is making a big push into Auckland's apartment development market, forming specialist new division Fletcher Developments this year to hunt down opportunities on big sites.

Fletcher Building is aiming to win contracts worth billions, it has revealed in an investor presentation.