KEY POINTS:
SkyCity Entertainment Group will head into its annual general meeting next month with a very different line-up to face investors, who last year called for its board to be censured.
The casino and hotel operator has been through a major management makeover in the last six months after facing one of its toughest times.
In March new chief executive Nigel Morrison came on board and a new executive team has quickly followed.
At a recent annual result announcement Morrison joked he was now the third longest serving member of the 13-strong executive - only chief financial officer Alistair Ryan and Darwin general manager Andrew Wilson have been there longer.
Changes have also occurred at board level. In November Jane Freeman and Peter Cullinane were appointed to the board and on Friday three further directors were named.
Morrison will join the board as managing director while existing board members Patsy Reddy and Bill Trotter will step down at the agm on October 31 to be replaced by new directors Brent Harman and Chris Moller.
Reddy has been with the business since it first listed in 1994 while Trotter joined the board in 2000.
Their decisions not to run for re-election had been previously signalled and give a chance for fresh blood to be injected into the board. One industry commentator said both directors had "gone past their use-by dates."
Trotter came under fire last year over conflict of interest issues after investment banking business First NZ Capital, of which he is chairman, was appointed adviser to SkyCity during its potential sale process without having to go through a tender.
Both were part of the board's old guard, appointed by former chief executive Evan Davies and criticised last year for failing to keep a check on him during his tenure.
Harman and Moller are relatively unknown to SkyCity investors and analysts.
Harman - also chairman of HT Media, the owner of Mediaworks - has been described as a well-connected media man with a down-to-earth approach.
Moller, a former chief executive of the NZRU and director of the NZX, has a more mixed reaction.
Some commentators say he is a smart thinker with possible strong government connections through his rugby role, although others point to the fact that the Rugby Union has been poorly managed.
The raft of new management has been welcomed by most commentators who say SkyCity was left heavily depleted in experienced casino personal under Davies. But some are also edgy about whether they can pull off a turnaround in the business.
"If they turn it around it will be great. If they don't it will cost shareholders dearly," one commentator said referring to the high salary packages expected to have been given to the new executives to attract them.
But it seems SkyCity has now got its management cards to line up.
Time will only tell if it has a good hand that can bring the business back to its former hey-days.
SkyCity's annual general meeting is on October 31.
MANAGEMENT MAKEOVER
* Chief executive Nigel Morrison joined in March.
* Ten new executives appointed since May.
* Five new board members.
