A 49% float of Ports of Auckland should be pursued in 2017 by the owner, Auckland City Council, according to Carr & Haslam managing director Chris Carr.
The industry commentator stated that during the past four years the value of the listed Port of Tauranga had “increased considerably” while the 100%-council-owned Ports of Auckland had “diminished”.
He says Ports of Auckland would “flourish” under the ownership model enjoyed by its neighbour and rival, whereby the Bay of Plenty Regional Council retains a majority stake but has released the balance to trade freely.
This has enabled Port of Tauranga staff to become shareholders and “share in the benefits” as well as freeing port management from “ill-informed and unreasonable political pressures”.
“They do not have to deal with lunatic councillors creating mindless media scores over things which some councillors clearly know little about,” he says.
“Funding infrastructure would provide a good reason for the port to be semi-floated, with the proceeds of the sale returned in infrastructure and the future dividends similarly invested.”
