Forum Archive Index - May 2004

["tennyson@caverock.net.nz" <tennyson@caverock.net.nz>]

Hi Marilyn,

>
>Several hints have been dropped that I should dive into the current
>ports discussion thread. Well here goes.
><snip most content>
>

That was a great post on the New Zealand ports Marilyn.   I don't 
expect many responses to it because I think you covered everything!
But it was a pleasure to read: informative and entertaining.

Do you know what plans POA have for the future?   Are they a bit like 
LPC, constrained by the geography of their location.    I just wonder as 
Auckland grows, does POA have the ability to grow?

Also how much of POA is still in public ownership?   IIRC it isn't the 
Auckland City Council that owns the controlling shares but some other 
public body(?).


> 
>This low opinion of POT has been confounded by profits and the 
share
>price, damn!
>

POT seems to be NZs equivalent of Toll Holdings.    There shouldn't 
really be good money in moving commodities about in a highly 
competitive transport market.    Yet like Toll Holdings, POT seems to 
do better that logic suggests it should.   Perhaps the other ports should 
take some management lessons from them.     POT also have Infratil 
on the share register IIRC, who are smart operators.    Perhaps IFT are 
one of the important ingredients in POT's success?


> 
> Lyttelton: Oh dear.
> 
> The policy of Fonterra to ship its products from the nearest port to
> its factory has drawn Maersk shipping away from Lyttelton to Timaru.
>

Is that policy?   I was under the impression that LPC lost the Fronterra 
contract because they weren't competitive with Timaru?   But I could 
be wrong!


> 
> An informant told me the decision to call at Port Chalmers has
> been problematic for P & O.
>

In what way 'problematic'?

> 
>The bigest problem facing LPC is in my opinion corporate governace.
>The loss of former chairman Brent Layton and and managing director
>David Viles is a blow from which LPC has yet to recover. Why the 
major
>shareholder Christchurch City Holdings engineered their departure is 
a
>mystery surrounded by a riddle and wrapped in an enigma.
>

And interestingly ChCh Mayor Gary Moore, the ultimate controlling 
force behind Christchurch City Holdings, seems to have lost a lot of 
support around the council table through defections and retirements 
(both that which has happened - former LPC director Erin Baker, and 
those pending at election time).    I'm not suggesting this is because of 
what happened at LPC- just making the observation.


SNOOPY

--
Message sent by Snoopy 
on Pegasus Mail version 4.02
----------------------------------
"Q: If you call a dog tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?"
"A: Four.  Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To remove yourself from this list, please use the form at
http://www.sharechat.co.nz/chat/forum/