Hunt tipped for top job at Contact Energy

Former Contact Energy senior executive David Hunt is tipped to be a contender for the top job at the leading energy company.

Market observers expect an Origin Energy man or a Contact man to take the helm at Contact in the next few months.

They say if the board of Contact opts for a local man, then Mr Hunt is a politically-savvy and politically well-connected Kiwi who knows the New Zealand electricity game intimately though he keeps a low profile. The Contact board has three Origin and three independent directors.

Mr Hunt has been seconded to Origin Energy and is presently working in Sydney.

However, ambitious executives within Origin who see New Zealand as a stepping stone in their careers are seen as tough competition. An Origin Energy executive is considered more likely to be appointed now that Origin has got to grips with the company.

Mr Hunt has been involved in developing Contact's strategy for several years and is said to be the closest adviser of Contact's present American chief executive Steve Barrett, who is due to depart at the end of September but may leave earlier.

Mr Barrett was an executive with Contact's former majority shareholder Edison Mission Energy which sold out last year, but Mr Barrett agreed to stay on for a year.

Mr Hunt held several positions in the government sector before joining Contact in February 1996 when it had been newly split off from the Electricity Corporation and was a state-owned enterprise. He has been economic adviser to the Minister of Finance and energy policy manager at the Treasury.

Another possible Kiwi contender is Stephen Cross, Contact's trading manager, who has had a long career in the energy industry and has done a stint in merchant banking.

- NZPA