By ELLEN READ
In contrast to last year's two hour grilling, this year's CDL Hotels annual meeting was a much more gentle affair.
New Zealand Shareholders Association chairman Bruce Sheppard returned to keep the firm on its toes, but he and CDL chairman John Wilson were firm friends this time
around.
Yesterday's annual meeting of the country's largest hotel operator was a milestone for the Shareholders Association - it was a year since it made its first public outing, to CDL's previous annual meeting.
Continuing their first name tradition established then, Sheppard and Wilson both spoke about the future direction of the business.
Sheppard questioned the company on the appropriateness of its structure, suggesting a revamp was in order.
CDL Hotels - which is 70 per cent owned by CDL Hotels International - has two separately listed subsidiaries. These are CDL Investments, of which it owns 60 per cent and Kingsgate International in which it has a 50 per cent stake.
Sheppard suggested the costs involved in listing and running the three units were a drain on company finances which would be better served by a two unit model in which Kingsgate was divested or absorbed by the others.
The matter was also raised in the Kingsgate and CDL Investment annual meetings which were held before the CDL Hotels gathering.
"I can't really give you any commitment about short-term rationalisation," Wilson said, adding the board would work on a development plan for the group.
Questioned further about divesting assets, Wilson replied he was "not in favour of selling assets as we speak today".
The company said it had made an "excellent start" to the first quarter and was positive about long term prospects for the tourism and property sectors in NZ and Australia.
But CDL Hotels chief operating officer Gordon Wilson said the recent Air New Zealand situation highlighted the hotel industry's vulnerability and reliance on outside sectors, and reinforced the need for a collective voice.
He said a body was being formed to represent the interests of hotel management nationally.
