$100m man twice flouted rules

By FIONA ROTHERHAM

Fletcher Challenge has revealed that prominent businessman Kerry Hoggard - declared an inside trader by the Securities Commission yesterday - also flouted the company's share rules a year earlier.

After a five-month investigation, the commission said Mr Hoggard, FCL's former chairman, broke insider trading laws when he bought 390,000 shares in December on the eve of a major company announcement.

It complained of a "clear breach of an important law" but no further action would be taken.

Later in the day, Fletcher confirmed that Mr Hoggard - worth $100 million in the NBR rich-list - - acted outside its own trading rules when he bought 9455 shares from a neighbour in 1998. The price he paid was above the closing quote.

The company took no action that time because of the small number of shares involved and because he was committed to making the purchase.

But yesterday, Fletcher's new chairman, Dr Roderick Deane, said the company felt the commission's report vindicated its decision to accept Mr Hoggard's resignation, tendered a week after the share purchases last year.

Under New Zealand laws there are no criminal sanctions against insider trading. Mr Hoggard repaid the $58,000 profit he made from the December trade to shareholders who sold to him - which was all the law required him to do.

The report also examined the role of broker J B Were and Son, which handled the $634,509 order from Mr Hoggard.

While the commission found the broker not guilty of wrongdoing, staff who dealt with Mr Hoggard did not follow their own guidelines covering inside information.

Mr Hoggard, who is still chairman of listed Nufarm, was unavailable yesterday.

In a prepared media statement, he said his sole motivation in acquiring the shares was to show his total commitment to the restructuring process he believed would take 12 months to complete.

"The investment was to be long-term and I gave no thought to any personal, potential, short-term financial gain."