Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - Pyne Gould Corporation has soared on its exposure to the agricultural sector and posted a 22 percent rise in net profit to a record $44.8 million for the year to June 30.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - Contact Energy has posted a 1 percent fall in full year net profit to $237.1 million, after having to supply its South Island demand by purchasing electricity from the spot market at a "significant" loss during some periods.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - Air New Zealand today posted a lift in profit of just 1 percent for the year to June 30, and said that its "normalised" earnings had dropped 24 percent on last year to $197 million.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - Contact Energy has posted a 1 percent fall in full year net profit to $237.1 million, after having to supply its South Island demand by purchasing electricity from the spot market at a "significant" loss during some periods.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - Thai Airways has sought to play down speculation it may end its non-stop flights between Bangkok and Auckland in October.

Wellington, Aug 26 NZPA - South Island hydro lakes are nearly at their lowest levels since the 1992 power crisis with spot prices still high. National hydro storage has been falling since the start of the month and was 64 per cent of average on Sunday.

Wellington, Aug 25 NZPA - One of Fonterra's biggest rivals in Australia, Japanese-owned National Foods, has won the bidding war for the Sydney-based Dairy Farmers cooperative with an offer of $A910 million ($NZ1.126 billion).

Wellington, Aug 25 NZPA - The number of domestic passengers using Auckland Airport rose and the number of international passengers fell in July compared to a year ago.

Wellington, Aug 25 NZPA - Central government has to "initiate economic directives" to develop a super port in the upper North Island because parochial councils will never agree where it should be.

Wellington, Aug 25 NZPA - ING Property Trust had a swipe atproperty market pessimists today, saying its portfolio is diversified and rents are rising. ING told unitholders at the annual meeting that its unit price had been inappropriately discounted by the market.