Andrew Yeadon was another short-lived appointee. Yeadon, the mergers and acquisitions manager at Trade Me, joined the board in February and also resigned on October 30.
Kirwood and Trade Me will both remain as investors in Harmoney after the IPO but will own less than 10 per cent of the company.
The third departure is that of Richard Dellabarca, a specialist in venture capital investment.
It's the second role Dellabarca has resigned from in recent months. In August he resigned as chief executive of New Zealand Growth Capital Partners.
Harmoney's IPO will proceed with four directors. The two executive directors are founder Neil Roberts and chief executive David Stevens, and the two independent directors are chairman David Flacks and Tracey Jones.
Three directors have resigned from Harmoney ahead of its IPO. Photo / 123RF
The prospectus notes that following its capital raise and listing, Harmoney will be looking for a third non-executive director who will be appointed by the board and then be up for re-election at its next annual general meeting.
One market player said it was not unusual to have a tidy-up of a board ahead of an IPO but said it was "less than optimal" to list without a full board.
Two of the directors who resigned were linked to shareholders, and regulatory requirements meant a certain number of independent directors were needed.
Jones is said to be staying on the board to give continuity as an independent director. The new appointment is expected to be an Australian with ASX experience.
Pushed off
Pushpay has been dropped from Forsyth Barr's conviction list after its half-year result.
Despite the digital church collection company upping its full-year earnings guidance for the third time, analysts at the broking firm said they view the US church segment as near saturated.
"Although we remain positive on the company given its superior product offering, execution to date and strong cash generation, in our view medium and smaller churches offer a less attractive proposition for PPH [Pushpay Holdings] given the slower growth rates in attendance and donations.
Pushpay has fallen out of favour with one broker. Photo / Pushpay
"Competition for smaller and medium churches is significantly higher while the company is now more likely to focus on acquisitive based growth to meet long term revenue ambitions."
Still on the list are a2 Milk, Contact Energy, Freightways, SkyCity and Summerset.
Tough choice
Local councils are having to make tough financial choices this year after Covid hit their incomes from rates, and with some assets forced to close or reduce operations.
Shane Solly, fund manager at Harbour Asset Management, says issuing bonds, particularly green bonds that finance environmental and sustainability projects, into a yield-hungry investment market may be one option.
"Ultra-low interest rates mean investors are chasing bond issues from high quality issuers such as councils and semi-governments."
But councils are wary of increasing debt levels harming their credit rating, which would then push up the cost of future borrowing.
Another option may be selling part-holdings in the equity of existing mature infrastructure assets such as ports, airports, and water and sewage treatment plants.
Solly says capital markets are likely to show strong support. "Capital markets are open and paying up for quality assets."
So far, Auckland Council has shown reluctance to sell down its stake in Auckland Airport or float part of Ports of Auckland.
But with New Zealand First now out of the picture, the absence of pressure to move the port to Northland may remove one barrier that could make a port float more palatable.
Covid impact
Chapman Tripp analysis of the top 75 companies on the NZX has revealed the immediate impact Covid had on the market's composition as of March 31.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was - and remains - the top stock, while other healthcare-related companies moved up the ranks. The biggest mover was AFT Pharmaceuticals, which rose 21 places, while Green Cross Health was up 12 and Arvida rose 10 spots.
On the down slide was movie software firm Vista Group, which dropped 20 places, Sky TV, which fell 19 places, and Tourism Holdings - down 16 places.
The analysis also shows gender diversity is slowly creeping up. In 2019, 33.3 per cent of directors in the top 25 companies were women, up from 27.7 per cent in 2017.
In the top 26 to 50 companies that figure has risen from 21 per cent to 25 per cent, while at the smaller end it remains lower but has still grown from 14.7 to 18.5 per cent.
Women now account for 17.3 per cent of board chairs, up from 13 per cent. The analysis also shows nearly 45 per cent of the top 75 directors are Auckland-based, while 22.2 per cent were overseas-based.
Room for improvement
Troubled takeovers have been a bit of theme on the NZX this year, with Fletcher Building's unsuccessful takeover of Steel & Tube, the tussle between Metlifecare and its eventual buyer Asia Pacific Villages Group, and Abano's on, off and now on-again takeover.
A review of takeover policies by Chapman Tripp found that while most of the top 75 companies had such a policy, many were reactive, focusing on the mechanics of a takeover response rather than being prepared for a takeover.
"Recent unsolicited takeovers we have assisted target boards with ... has reinforced to us the benefit of a board and its advisers having access to a regularly updated internal company valuation and clear-eyed view on a reasonable offer price."
Covid has also bought about changes in auditors' reports.
While impairment testing, revenue recognition and property valuation were the key audit matters before Covid hit, since the pandemic auditors are highlighting an increase in material uncertainty disclosures, especially for asset valuations, Chapman Tripp's report found.
"It will be interesting to see if this trend carries through to 2021 reports."
It also pointed to the need for improvement in audit reports after a Financial Markets Authority report found only 48 per cent of investors thought audit quality was of a high standard.
The FMA has described the this view as "not alarmingly" low but it's obviously not a great result for the audit sector either.
