Christchurch City Holdings Limited (CCHL) directors, Bridget Geisen and Gill Cox have today confirmed that they will continue in their roles, together with two Councillor appointed directors, Sara Templeton and Sam MacDonald.
The announcement follows the resignation of four independent CCHL directors – Chris Day, Abby Foote (Chair), Martin Goldfinch, and David Hunt – yesterday.
In a statement, the remaining CCHL directors said they wished to thank the retiring directors, “both individually and collectively, for the valuable contribution that they have made to governance in CCHL, and the platform they have helped build for the future of the Company and its subsidiaries”.
“We respect and support the right of Council to make decisions around CCHL and its group of infrastructure businesses. This includes the Council’s decision not to accept the CCHL Board’s recommendation in December 2023 to move to an active portfolio management model to support investment in the region’s infrastructure, reduce debt levels and grow dividends,” the departing directors said in a media statement on Wednesday.
“We agreed to instead work to lift dividends as far as possible within the current CCHL mandate, recognising Council’s view that there would be no more capital for the group in the form of either debt or equity.
“However, Council has since made requests for dividends which we see as being beyond the ability of CCHL’s infrastructure businesses to sustainably provide. Delivering these dividends may well also require further borrowing – and an assumption that future councils will accept lower dividends – both of which we regard as posing risks for the CCHL Group.”
The four directors said it was with “sadness, disappointment and regret” that they tendered their resignations.
