November 22, 2020
Ngai Tahu eyes portfolio as profit plummets
Ngāi Tahu Rūnanga will ask its subsidiary businesses to review whether they are investing in the right places.
Ngāi Tahu Holdings reported a net loss in 2020 of $27.5 million as the COVID crisis hit businesses like tourism and seafood.
That means the rūnanga has almost $7 million less to spend this year on social programmes and other services.
Ngāi Tahu kaiwhakahaere Lisa Tumahai, who was reelected for another three year term after Saturday’s annual meeting, says it was the first time the tribe’s wealth has gone backwards in the 23 years since settlement.
"These are exceptional circumstances, the time we are in, so it is the job of the rūnanga to hold to account our subsidiary companies, our holding company and our office, to start to drive those investments back up but also ensure we have got the right investments so what many have been fit for the last 20 years may not be the right investments going forward to ensure that economic resiliency," she says.
Lisa Tumahai says a highlight was the success of the Whai Rawa savings scheme, which now has 27,000 whānau members and will this year top $115 million in funds under management.
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