A sign from Saturday's rally in New Zealand.
The Auckland Council subsidiary which owns Ports of Auckland has defended the port’s profit target as ”challenging but achievable” as councillors gather this morning for a meeting with union leaders.
Gary Swift, chief executive of Auckland Council Investments, said claims the port could not achieve a return on equity of 12 per cent were ”absolute nonsense”.
From 1999 to 2003 the port earned a return on equity of between 13.2 and 17.8 per cent, he said, and in 2007 it earned 11 per cent.
It was incorrect to suggest the profit target, double the previous 6 per cent level, caused the current labour dispute, he said.