By BERNARD ORSMAN
The company that ran the America's Cup village has lost more than $6 million of public money on several commercial blunders, including $4.1 million on an exclusive floating yacht club.
The final wash-up of finances shows that America's Cup Village Ltd cost the region $23.5 million, a slight improvement
on the $25.7 million forecast in February.
Company chairman Peter Kiely said yesterday that some of the projects had looked good at the time "but in hindsight it turned out that they weren't."
Losses included:
$1.7 million on the village pavilion, set up in the old City Markets Building.
$310,000 on the lease for the Winstone Building for use as a members' lounge associated with the yacht club, and never used for this purpose.
"These [losses] shouldn't be repeated in future," Mr Kiely said.
Although the company's spending was in line with budget, its income of $13.8 million from sponsorship, royalties, marina berths and syndicate bases fell well short of the $25 million budget.
Mr Kiely said royalties from suppliers and licensees were $3 million short of budget but he did not reveal the shortfall in the sponsorship budget.
The company continues to deny that a key sponsorship deal with credit card company American Express was another commercial blunder.
The Herald has reported that American Express paid just $200,000 towards the $2.8 million yacht club and nothing for exclusive village naming rights, valued at $2.2 million.
The deal caused a huge ruckus inside the village company and led to the resignation of chief executive Rob Sutherland in May last year.
Mr Kiely said the public would be the ultimate judge about the $85.7 million of ratepayer and taxpayer money spent at the village.
He said the net cost to the region for developing and running it was $23.5 million.
Of that figure, $14 million was attributable to developing wharves and event facilities, and $9.5 million to running the event.
Auckland City councillor Jon Olsen, who unsuccessfully sought answers last year from the company about its finances, said he was not saying that things could have been done better.
However, the latest figures pointed to a cover-up at the time.
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