KEY POINTS:
When Theresa Gattung was named as new chief executive at Telecom in October 1999, the shares closed at $8.61.
Yesterday, after news that British Telecom executive Paul Reynolds will replace Gattung, the shares closed at $4.48.
From any angle, that fall in value is a lousy result for those investors who were loyal for Gattung's full tenure.
Yes, Telecom has paid good dividends, yes there was a tech wreck in 2000, yes Gattung was thrown a hospital pass in the form of the AAPT investment in Australia and, yes, government regulation crippled the share price last year.
Casual observers who have heard her interviewed in the media this week could be forgiven for thinking she is exiting in triumph - such is her positivity.
In 2000, Business Herald columnist Brian Gaynor outlined her mission succinctly: "Theresa Gattung is in the hot seat. Faced with increasing domestic competition, she has to transform Telecom from a predominantly New Zealand organisation into a growth-oriented international group."
That just hasn't happened. In fact, it doesn't even look likely any more.
Gattung is a leader difficult to dislike on a personal level but her "no regrets" attitude must be galling for shareholders.
Apart from wishing she'd been more careful with her comments to the media, there wasn't anything she would have done differently, Gattung told TV3's John Campbell.
Really? Even with hindsight was there no other strategy that could have added more value or limited the damage?
Yes, as Gattung told Campbell: "It is easy to throw stones." In Telecom's case, it has become painfully easy. Let's hope Reynolds can address that.
Tourism target
The market no longer seems to have much faith in the chances of Australian listed fund MFS Living & Leisure taking over Tourism Holdings.
The share price has dropped to $2.50 - 30c below the MFS offer price. That suggests many investors just want to cut their losses before the offer closes on July 21. Before the offer THL shares were trading about $2.20.
MFS has delivered an ultimatum - effectively calling the bluff of one or two big stake-holders - by indicating it won't extend the offer deadline and it won't lift the 90 per cent condition and accept a majority stake. Of course under NZX rules (unlike the ASX) that ultimatum isn't actually binding.
Opus day approaches
It must be a contender for worst-kept secret of the year, but the Malaysian owners of former Ministry of Works and Development company Opus International Consulting (OIC), have finally confirmed that the company will list on the NZX this year.
The Malaysian parent - now called Opus PLC - holds 85.5 per cent of shares in OIC. Staff hold the remaining 14.5 per cent.
Opus PLC says it will sell up to 20 per cent of its current OIC holding, but the float is also likely to involve the issue of new shares - how many is not yet clear. It will definitely retain at least a 51 per cent stake of the enlarged company.
OIC has a market cap around $200 million. The public float will end up being somewhere between $55 million and $75 million.
That could be the biggest the market sees this year.
The organising brokers are First NZ Capital and Macquarie.
Airport action
The gossip trail about the proposed sale of Auckland International Airport went pretty cold pretty fast. Plenty of names of potential buyers are swirling about the market, but what's really required now is more information about the structure of any deals the airport board is looking at.
They aren't talking.
While some in the market are getting frustrated by the lack of fresh news, others - including some big shareholders - remain confident that the Auckland Airport board will do a good job for them.
With a cleverly worded disclosure notice last week, the board covered its bases with regard to the number of parties they may be talking to and the nature of any deal, so even if they get new approaches they probably don't technically have to disclose anything.
They've made it clear that shareholders shouldn't sell. And with the share price holding up at $3.20 yesterday, investors seem to have faith that they will eventually see a strong proposal.
"This is definitely not a Restaurant Brands scenario," said one large shareholder.
Court date
There has been some surprise in the market at the speed with which Woolworths has managed to get a High Court date for its challenge to the Commerce Commission decision.
The commission ruled that neither Woolworths nor Foodstuffs can buy The Warehouse.
The October 23 start date for a nine-day hearing gives Woolworths a shot at getting a judgment by the end of the year (if the judge is a fast reader).
That early date should put some pressure back on Foodstuffs - which is still to decide whether it will appeal against the decision - and Pacific Equity Partners (PEP).
PEP has already hinted that it is ready to have another crack at The Warehouse - last year's $5.75 a share bid with Tindall was killed by the arrival of Woolworths. The latest word is that PEP is keen to go but they want to have Stephen Tindallon board again - and he hasn't made his mind up yet.
Tindall is in Valencia and while he has presumably had his mobile on between races, it seems he may wait until he gets back to make the big decision. The Warehouse shares closed up 5c at $6.03 yesterday. WINE SIGNS Like most export stocks, Delegat's isn't enjoying the present strength of the dollar. But from an operational perspective the company has nothing to whine about, writes Goldman Sachs JBWere's Adrian Allbon.
After reviewing the latest industry statistics on industry pricing and this year's grape harvest, he remains confident Delegat's is on track to realise a premium over the average New Zealand export price.
Other positives for Delegat's are that the quality of the vintage will be good and that many wineries are facing supply constraints - something that should provide pricing support for the company next year.
That's probably a relief rather than a cause for celebration - with the dollar tracking where it is, price support will be crucial to maintaining growth.
Despite those favourable factors the currency still forces Allbon to downgrade his profit forecast by 2 per cent to $14.3 million this year, 14 per cent to $19 million next year and 6 per cent to $35.1 million for 2009.
Those sizeable downgrades only result in a 3 per cent drop in discounted cashflow valuation - $2.85 a share - because that calculation also includes longer-term forecasts which are as yet only minimally affected by the currency.
On the plus side, Allbon notes that any shift towards a more stable NZ dollar could prompt a positive revision of the stock's value.
Longer term he retains a "buy" recommendation reflecting confidence in Delegat's growth profile and business model. Delegat's shares closed down 6c yesterday at $2.25.
My friend the wind
In a week when most of the nation is fixated on the Spanish stuff, local wind power has also been making some waves - well ripples perhaps - on the market.
Listed lines company Vector revealed on Wednesday that it has started a trial of mini-windmills which can be set up on the roof of a building to generate power.
There appears to be a bit of a fatal flaw in that plan.
It might be an admirable step towards a green utopia where every household is self-powered, but wouldn't that make Vector's core business - ferrying electricity from power stations to captive consumers - redundant?
Vector holds a 19.99 per cent stake in NZ Windfarms giving it exposure to the upside of the green energy boom and the security of power being generated a long way from its customers.
Vector shares closed up 5c at $2.70 yesterday.
