Vacation Hotels in transition

Press, 14 July 1982, Page 34

Vacation Hotels in transition

PA Auckland Vacation Hotels. Ltd, is in a “transition period"' as it gets down to reorganisation of the company. and much still needs to be done, the chairman (Mr J. T. Sheffield) told the annual meeting.

He said that the new Singaporean shareholder partners' plans to upgrade key units in the chain to fivestar standard should help to generate more overseas tourists and foreign exchange earnings than had so far been projected.

Six new directors, including four from Singapore, have resulted from Jit Poh investments Pty, Ltd. and Tai Tak Securities Pty. Ltd, raising their Vacation holdings to 67.6 per cent. All except one were present. The new Vacation joint major shareholder and now joint managing director, is Mr Ho Whye Chung.

The new-look Vacation board took just 16 minutes to introduce the new directors and outline the expansion plans. However, the attendance of about 60 was little changed from previous years when there was a wider spread of shareholding.

“We have to be internationally competitive, and we are looking ahead five

years and longer.” said Mr Sheffield. Mr Sheffield said he saw the change in majority ownership of Vacation as being of real benefit to the company and for the future development and growth of the local tourist industry. . The new goal of the company was to develop a major tourist facility for New Zealand

The new capacity. of the company to obtain finance overseas meant there would ■be little recourse to onshore funds, allowing a major tourist asset to be created without inhibiting the capital development of other tourist and industrial enterprises in New Zealand. He said that the initiative for the Rotorua hotel upgrading far beyond that originally planned, came in recent weeks from Mr Ho.

The replacement of former directors was approved by the meeting. One, Mr R. B. Grierson, has retired after 14 years as a member of the board.

Also approved was an “unusual" change of auditors for the company. Mr Sheffield said this resulted because the new Singaporean shareholders wished to use the New Zealand office of the

international accounting firm which did their accounts in Singapore, Barr, Burgess and Stewart. j The directors, after the meeting, revealed that the Singaporean investors had chosen a higher Vacation interest ahead of an alternative proposal to increase their hotel ownership in Aus?: tralia by buying two Gold Coast properties. ;• Mr Sheffield said later: that upgrading of the Auckland Inter-Continental could be at least 18 months away. He said earlier consideration to add a new wing to the Big I would probably be modified to concentrate op., improving the existing planjto five-star status. This was because extensive hotel de* velopment under way in Auckland could lead to a surplus of rooms in the city. The exact source and amounts needed for the mul-, timillion-dollar programme had still to be completed. ; The meeting also authorised the proposed increase in directors’ fees provision from $25,006 to $31,500, paralleling a. 25 per cent increase in the size of the board.