Oliver Mander: NZ Shareholders Association spokesperson on SkyCity suing Fletcher Construction

SkyCity has filed legal proceedings against Fletcher Construction.

The casino giant is seeking more than $300 million in damages caused by delays in building the Auckland Central Convention Centre.

Fletcher Construction’s defending itself against SkyCity’s claim for further liquidated damages after already paying a significant sum.

New Zealand Shareholders Association spokesperson Oliver Mander talks to Heather du Plessis-Allan about the situation.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right. Well, we have a case of sky City versus Fletchers.
Now sky City is suing Fletcher for delays in building
the Auckland Central Convention Center. They want three hundred and
thirty million dollars in damage. Oliver Amander is the CEO
of the New Zealand Shareholders Association.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hey, Oliver, good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Is three hundred and thirty million dollars realistic?

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Look, I think that's really for the lawyers to decide.
Fletcher Building has been very clear in saying it has
already paid significantdated damages as a result of the delays,
and so really it's not for me. It's not my
place to actually judge that and say that. Ultimately it's
the lawyers that'll be the winner on the day for
this case.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
I imagine it's going to have a dampener on the
share price for as long as this drags on, won't it.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
I think it's another sort of nail in the coffin
of the longest of issues associated with the ICC and
Fletcher Building. It's interesting to see the share price reaction
to The share price is down very slightly, but sort
of not as significantly as it may have been in
the past, why not think, Well, that's I think Fletcher Building.

(01:05):
Their share price has stabilized the last year or so,
sectually relatory stable since since the middle of twenty twenty four,
So that does there ness to be for causeus optimism
surrounding the company and its future. So look whether this
that the reaction today or the more muted reaction today
may mean that the investors might be skeptical about the

(01:26):
outcome of the case or really there's just not enough
information with its judge in terms of the likelihood of
the amount that Fletchers will pay or will be directed
to pay as a result of any judgment.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
It's an unbelievable run that this company's had, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
What's that? Sorry hit?

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Unbelievable run that Fletcher Building has.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Had, it is, and what it really reflects is that
it really highlights the long term impact of strategic and
governance decisions that are they take a decade to come
out of the wood work, and that's what we see
here Fletchers. But you know, as I said, that the
share price does appear to have stabilized over the last years,
So that tells you that institutions and individual investors they

(02:05):
may there may be some cautious optimism developing in terms
of Let's future, which is good news for sky City.
I think the main issue that investors want to see
there is simply that they that whatever action they're taking here,
that it isn't a distraction from improving their risk profile.
They've done a lot of work on their risk processes,

(02:26):
risk management, how they how they manage their compliance with
the regulatory regulatory authorities both here in New Zealand and
in Australia since the issues that they hadn't adelaide in particular.
So look, I think anything, I think investors will be
wanting the assurance there's no distraction from that ongoing process
and improvement. And actually the if you look at the
sky City returns in the last five years, I mean

(02:48):
that share price has been on a one way ticket
down down South where else that does a disservice of
the people of South Island.

Speaker 3 (02:59):
I'm very sorry, fair enough, I appreciate that, Oliver.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Thanks very much, Oliver Amanda, the chief executive officer at
the Shareholders Association.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
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