DNZ board seeks 27% boost to directors’ fee pool

DNZ board seeks 27% boost to directors’ fee pool after overseeing share price surge

By Paul McBeth

June 25 (BusinessDesk) - DNZ Property Fund, which is raising $80 million to help fund two new acquisitions, will ask shareholders to boost the directors’ fee pool by 27 percent, with the board having presided over a surging share price since the diversified property investor listed in 2010.

The Auckland-based property investor wants shareholders to raise the pool to $375,000 for the 2014 and 2015 March years, from the current $295,000 which has been in place since 2010, according to the notice annual meeting.

The proposal comes after DNZ hired dsd Consulting Ltd in April to review director remuneration. It recommended increasing non-executive directors’ fees by $10,000 to $75,000 and the chairman’s fee $30,000 to $130,000. The portion of the increased pool not paid to directors will be available for special remuneration, it said.

“It is important for DNZ to attract and retain high performing people whose skills and attributes are well-matched to the company’s requirements and for DNZ to remunerate them appropriately,” it said. “To this end, the board has adopted a policy of reviewing director remuneration every two years.”

The shares rose 0.3 percent to $1.645 today, having gained 3.5 percent this year. Since joining the stock exchange in 2010, DNZ’s share price has surged 66 percent, and it has paid out total dividends of 23.5 cents per share. The gross dividend yield is currently 6.96 percent.

The stock is rated an average ‘hold’ based on five analyst recommendations compiled by Reuters, with a median target price of $1.75.

DNZ’s board is made up of chairman Tim Storey, former PwC partner John Harvey, KordaMentha’s Michael Stiassny, New Zealand Funds Management principal David van Schaardenburg and executive director Paul Duffy.

(BusinessDesk)

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