Wellington, Feb 24 NZPA - State-owned Meridian Energy Ltd has reported a rise in interim profit and said it is on track to beat last year's annual underlying profit under mostly hydrology conditions.

Wellington, Feb 18 NZPA - Michael Hill International's half-year profits have plunged 66 percent on the previous period, but the jeweller is reasonably pleased with the result in tough trading conditions.

Wellington, Feb 16 NZPA - Wellington retailer Kirkcaldie & Stains believes it will be more than a year before the retail market recovers from the economic recession as it weathers losses from its CBD store.

Wellington, Feb 12 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar ended off its best levels today after retail sales data came in lower than expected.

Wellington, Jan 21 NZPA - The NZ dollar got a lift from strong retail sales data today but it did not last for long as the US dollar surged to a four-month high after China reported strong fourth quarter growth.

Wellington, Jan 15 NZPA - The New Zealand sharemarket eased today mostly due to profit-taking in leading shares. The downward move gained momentum as the session progressed and also reflected weakness in the Australian sharemarket.

Wellington, Jan 15 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar retreated from a two-month high today in a move analysts attributed to a trader-driven attack on the euro.

Wellington, Jan 15 NZPA - Shares in the New Zealand Refining Co rose 3 percent in early trading as they continued to edge away from a 4-1/2-year low touched earlier this month. Shares in the oil refiner were up 11c to 384 after dropping as low 355 on January 6.

Wellington, Jan 15 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar reached a two-month high against the greenback last night and slipped only slightly from that level as poor economic news continued to come out of the United States.

Wellington, Jan 7 NZPA - The New Zealand dollar rose to its highest level since late November today as the US dollar went on the defensive and the Australian dollar went on the offensive.