Midday Report for Wednesday 23 May 2018

12:35 PM.New Zealand's kiwifruit giant Zespri has reported a lift in earnings for the 2017-18 season, despite the volume of kiwifruit sold falling by 11 per cent during that period. Audio

12:26 PM.The captain of the New Zealand women's world cup winning rugby team, Fiao'o Fa'amausili, has come out of retirement to take up one of the inaugural Black Ferns contracts. Audio

12:23 PM.The online travel booking company Serko has posted its maiden annual net profit of 1 point 8 million dollars, a turnaround from a 3-million dollar loss last year. Audio

12:22 PM.AFT Pharmaceuticals has reduced its net loss by a third to 10-point-1 million dollars after seeing strong growth in its offshore operations. Audio

12:19 PM.The share price of Steel and Tube has fallen sharply after it announced a 54-million-dollar write-down. Audio

12:17 PM.Fonterra has lifted its forecast payout to farmers for this year and next, thanks to stronger demand from countries like China. Audio

12:00 PM.Malcom Rewa will stay in jail until his third trial over the death of Susan Burdett. Strong international dairy demand lifts Fonterra's forecast payout Audio