PRESS DIGEST-New Zealand newspapers - April 30

WELLINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - Following are some of the lead stories from New Zealand metropolitan newspapers on Thursday.

Stories may be taken from either the paper or Internet editions of the papers.

Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

DOMINION POST(www.stuff.co.nz)

Ministry coy on job-cut claims: More public service jobs appear to be poised for the axe, this time at one of the largest government departments. The Social Development Ministry refused to be drawn yesterday on suggestions that as many as 180 redundancies were coming, but Labour MP Annette King said the job losses were outlined in a confidential briefing paper last week.

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Key moves into damage control: Prime Minister John Key has moved to head off a potential swine flu backlash as global panic steps up the threat of trade and travel bans.

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LWR heartbreak: A bitter marriage split involving Lane Walker Rudkin (LWR) Industries owner Ken Anderson was a factor in poor business decisions at the company, now in receivership, a union says.

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ANZ National 'in sound shape': ANZ National Bank's (ANZ.AX) half-year profit fell 31 per cent to NZ$421 million, down because of rising bad debt provisions and the cost of paying off investors in a joint venture with ING.

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Airport looks 20 years ahead: Wellington Airport will boost the regional economy by an extra NZ$24 million if a daily long-haul European direct flight is established by 2015.

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Wine produces NZ$1.5b for GDP: A new report sets the wine industry out as one of New Zealand's best-performing sectors in the past 20 years. The New Zealand Institute for Economic Research report showed the wine industry has grown by 24 per cent year on year for two decades, and directly provides nearly 6000 full-time-equivalent jobs.

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NEW ZEALAND HERALD (www.nzherald.co.nz)

Business sentiment in sharp rebound: Business sentiment has perked up this month - the National Bank's survey has recorded its biggest monthly gain since December 2000.

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Kirks reports half year profit fall: Kirkcaldie & Stains KRK.NZ reported a 41.8 per cent fall in half-year net profit to $482,000. Sales for the six months to the end of February were down 6.2 per cent from a year earlier to $20.9 million.

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F&P says no panic at mexican site: Fisher & Paykel Appliances FPA.NZ says it has increased hygiene awareness at its factory in Mexico but is not taking any extreme measures over swine flu.

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Rural lobby gets behind Telecom's fibre plan: Federated Farmers has thrown its weight behind a Telecom TEL.NZ proposal to use Government funding to help connect every school in the country to high-speed fibre-optic broadband within three years.

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