NZ Post has come out top of a new Corporate Reputation Index, while Telecom has come bottom of the list.

New Zealand businesses are stepping up and helping out Christchurch earthquake victims.

Fonterra says the earthquake has damaged some milking sheds, but all milk has been collected from its Canterbury suppliers.

The value of NZ exports rose 12pc last month, according to the latest monthly trade figures.

At Merrill Lynch in 1998, the ever-cheerful John Key was nicknamed "the smiling assassin" after he fired some 50 members of his team.

Fonterra says it has set a new export record, sending 2.1 million tonnes of product to market for the first time in its nine-year history.