Law curbs Air NZ directors' share deals

By DANIEL RIORDAN

Air New Zealand says its directors have been prevented by law from buying shares in the company since its near-collapse last September.

None of the six directors who have joined the board since October 1 last year, including chairman John Palmer, own any shares. The holdings of the two remaining directors, Sir Ron Carter and managing director Ralph Norris, have not changed for more than a year.

Company secretary John Blair said yesterday that the company strictly adhered to a policy consistent with the Securities Amendment Act.

That prohibits share dealings by directors except for defined periods following release of the interim and full-year financial results, and then only in the absence of reliance on inside information. Had directors bought or sold shares at any time since the airline's near-collapse last September they would have been acting unlawfully, said Blair.

John McDonald, one of four directors appointed in February, said he and most of his fellow directors were keen to buy shares in the airline to show their support - when they were allowed to do so legally.

The next possible window for share trading will be from late next month, when the airline is due to release its June year result. However, given the major strategic initiatives the board is working on, and the likelihood that at least some of these will not be made public by then, directors may still be shut out of the share register.

The Insider Trading (Approved Procedure for Company Officers) Notice 1996, designed to be used in conjunction with the Securities Amendment Act, stipulates that approved insider traders, including directors, of a company that reports other than quarterly can buy or sell shares from the day after the full-year results are made public up to five months after the end of the financial year.

For a half-year result, the window opens from the day after release to four months after the end of the half-year.

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