Stock takes: Punk rocker answers the call

Kieren Cooney. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Telecom's incoming head of mobile could bring some new style to the listed telco.

Kieren Cooney, who joins Telecom in June to replace Paul Hamburger, was once in a punk band and featured on music channel Max TV as a presenter.

Cooney, 37, wasn't keen to talk about his background until he starts his new role but Stock Takes understands he was in a band called Balance for a short time and then Salad Daze in the 1990s.

From 2001 until 2006, Cooney was overseeing the launch of the VodafoneLive portal and the 3G network upgrade marketing campaigns. Cooney has toned down his hair cut since then.

SOUTH CANTY CHANGES

South Canterbury Finance has lost another member of its senior management team. The company's general manager of funding, Kevin Gloag, has resigned and is to leave on May 12 after 29 years with the firm.

Gloag's departure follows that of South Canterbury chief executive Lachie McLeod and chief financial officer Graeme Brown who resigned in November.

Chief executive Sandy Maier said Gloag's loss was "regrettable" and had come after the company had been through a lot of difficult times.

Maier said Gloag's departure was neither good nor bad timing for South Canterbury but could mean potential changes for its business model. His replacement would come initially from within the business but long-term the company would look to recruit externally for the role.

WATER WEEK

It's been a busy week for Maier who has been on a whirlwind trip around the country to talk to financial advisers and journalists about South Canterbury's prospectus and its plans to raise $1.25 billion in new and replacement funding for the company.

And it's not the only company Maier is associated with that is trying to attract money. Pathfinder Asset Management, a start-up fund manager, which Maier chairs, also started a new water fund this week.

The open-ended unlisted fund is looking to raise $40 million to $50 million to invest in indices made up of large listed corporates connected to the water sector. John Berry and Paul Brownsey, formerly of Deutsche Bank, are running the fund which will aim to invest in up to 60 companies, ranging from water utilities to water pump makers, water treatment plants, water meter makers and desalination plants. The fund is designed to be a play on the water infrastructure issues facing the developed world and the water supply issues in the developing world.

A LOT ON HIS PLATE

Maier has 12 directorships including NZAX-listed Oyster Bay and state-owned enterprise power generator Mighty River Power. Even he admits "that is a very heavy load".

Stock Takes reckons it must also generate a nice whack of directors' fees although some of the companies like Pathfinder are pretty small.

Maier said he had given up a number of directorships before taking on South Canterbury and has put others on warning that he may have to take a leave of absence if the going gets tough. Maier said South Canterbury, which is government guaranteed under the retail deposit scheme, is his priority.

However Maier has only signed on to the job for one year. He started in December last year so that leaves him just over six months to get the company in shape - let's hope he can pull it off.

RURAL SERVICES SPLIT?

Craig Norgate's sell-down of his investment company's stake in PGG Wrightson could signal an end of an era for the company which Norgate was instrumental in bringing together.

Norgate's Rural Portfolio Investments sold a 6.4 per cent stake this week leaving RPI with just 6.1 per cent and he has signalled even that could be sold if Wrightson's share price doesn't pick up significantly.

Stock Takes understands Wrightson's 18 per cent shareholder Pyne Gould Corporation is also under pressure to exit the business. PGC has made it clear it is keen on getting a banking licence and the Wrightson stake doesn't seem core to that business model. PGC has said it remains a steadfast shareholder.

But some have speculated the departure of Norgate could see the company split up again. One theory could see Agria take on the seeds and research side of the business while PGC take up the finance arm of Wrightson. But for now there has been relief in the market that Norgate's position has been resolved for the moment. The share price fell to 55c on Thursday last week - its lowest point since 2001. Yesterday it closed down 2c at 57c.

SHOWDOWN FOR GPG

Investment company Guinness Peat Group is headed for a long-distance showdown at its May 7 annual meeting with commentator and fund manager Brian Gaynor calling for shareholders to vote against the reappointment of New Zealand director Tony Gibbs and director Ron Langley to the board, as well as the company's remuneration report over the performance of the company.

At the same time the New Zealand Shareholders Association has backed Gaynor's concerns about the performance of the company but says it doesn't want to vote against the removal of Gibbs because it would "cut off the best avenue to influence change" as he is the only New Zealand-domiciled director.

GPG, which is also listed in London, has a strong New Zealand investor base and investors have become increasingly frustrated over its decision to hold its annual meeting in London. The association has convinced GPG to provide an interactive video link to New Zealand for this year's meeting and then hold a meeting or presentation by the GPG board here within the next year.

Investors are anxiously awaiting news of a promised "value return" to them. First New Zealand Capital says an announcement on the board's intention is expected before the May 7 meeting and has an outperform rating on the stock.

The company's share price has recovered from a low of 49c hit in March last year but still has a long way to go before climbing back to the $2.60 plus share price hit in 2006. Yesterday it closed 1c off a year high at 91c.

NEW FACES

Stock exchange operator the NZX has appointed a new chief financial officer to its team. Justin Bgoni has joined the company from South Africa where he was CFO at an investment company called Rasai Holdings.

The appointment has raised questions with some wondering when the last CFO left the company. A spokeswoman for the NZX confirmed it did have a CFO up until three or four years ago but when he left the company decided not to replace him because the business was smaller.

Geoff Brown, head of market products, has been covering the role for the last couple of years overseeing the finance team. The spokeswoman said the NZX had decided in the last few months that its business had got more complex and the role was set up again.

NZX has also recently replaced its company secretary.

The loss of some staff has left some in the market wondering about the level of turnover at the NZX.

But the spokeswoman said turnover was no higher than normal, although some staff may have delayed their departures because of the global financial crisis. So far this year 19 of the firm's about 160 staff have left.