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FY2011 Annual Report · Z Energy Limited
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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

1

Contents

01  Introduction 
14  Chair’s report 
16  Chief Executive’s report  
20  NZX commentary   
24  Highlights  
26  Local matters 
32  AA commentary   
34  Customers matter 
40  People matter 
46  Communities matter 
50  Results matter  
      (financial overview)

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

Some Kiwis said ‘fun’, others said ‘family’ or ‘lifestyle’. 
The following pages showcase some Kiwis with their 
own personal interpretations of ‘what matters’...

1

“We want to  
be able to enjoy  
 our retirement!”

our shareholders

With the Guardians  
of New Zealand  
Superannuation a 50%  
shareholder in Greenstone,  
we’re a company that’s  
all about contributing  
to New Zealand’s long- 
term prosperity.

Last year the Guardians and Infratil, our other shareholder,  
acquired the ‘downstream’ assets of a market-leading retail 
energy brand. This included the entire retail network 
and the refining, storage and distribution infrastructure 
formerly operated by Shell New Zealand. During this 
transition, Greenstone maintained safe operations and 
service, and started to transform the company through a 
clear vision and purpose.

Greenstone is not just an opportunity to invest in the future  
of energy in this country – the returns from Greenstone 
going into the New Zealand Superannuation Fund will help 
meet the costs of future superannuation for New Zealand.  

Jane and Rodney Duncan in front of their own slice of 
Kiwi paradise. Although Jane and Rodney aren’t retired 
yet, they want to have a good lifestyle when they do. 

 
‘Tui’ (Jonathan Toohill), at Waiinui Beach.  
When Tui’s not relaxing, he’d like a good standard 
of living with world-class services from all sectors – 
including the energy sector. 

“respect me –  
 then I’ll support  
 you 100%”

What new Zealanders are looking for

We wanted to get off on  
the right foot from the start,  
so we set about asking  
New Zealanders what  
they wanted from their  
new Kiwi company. 

We’ve learned there’s something really distinctive 
about being a Kiwi – and in the business world  
that translates into a desire from consumers for 
companies that reflect who we are and what we stand 
for. It’s all about valuing and respecting our people 
and our communities, about getting things done, and 
about doing the right thing. And it’s about striving 
for excellence and being the best we can be. Find out 
more information on page 22.

 
So’o Fue loves working fulltime at the call centre, 
where she talks to Kiwis all day. After work, what 
matters to So’o is being able to pound the pavements, 
as well as living somewhere accessible, clean and 
where it’s easy to catch the train home afterwards!

Bringing the answers home

We’ve made a lot of noise 
about being a Kiwi company, 
and a genuine effort to ‘walk 
the talk’ – and you can hear 
this when you call Telnet, our 
contact centre. 

Previously located in Manila, our contact centre is 
based in Auckland, creating 12 fulltime Kiwi jobs.

Creating jobs in other ways

As well as creating new jobs for Kiwis directly, we’re 
also supporting other Kiwi businesses by appointing 
contracts for services to New Zealand companies 
wherever we can – find out more on page 26.

“you have to be  
reliable & responsible. 
Being Kiwi is a bonus”

Gaining new business

A major achievement for us  
this year was our successful 
tender to reclaim the  
Pan Pac business.  

Heading in the right direction

An important part of servicing this client, one  
of New Zealand’s biggest forestry companies, is  
recognising and responding to their diverse  
needs ranging from truckstops for the vehicle  
fleet to deliveries directly to their forest crews.

Neil Weber, Operations Manager at Pan Pac, believes 
having a service provider that delivers both reliable 
service and cost competitive pricing really matters.

“We’ve been  
shaken to shreds,
 but the kiwi spirit 
shone through”

responding to the quakes

The real test of a company  
can be how it manages the 
unexpected and the tragic. 
Greenstone responded to 
both the September 2010 
and the February 2011 
earthquakes in Christchurch 
that devastated the city. 

We had two clear and immediate priorities. The first 
was making sure our people in Christchurch were 
OK and taken care of. The second was getting our 
sites operational as quickly as possible for the people 
and organisations, including emergency services, 
who needed them.

This taken care of, our thoughts turned to what else 
we could do to help the people of Christchurch.  
Our response to both quakes has been innovative 
and genuinely local – guided at all times by the 
principle of doing what matters for people and the 
city. See page 46 to find out what we did.  

Jeff Waghorn (with ‘Champ’) is operator of eight petrol stations in the  
Canterbury area. Jeff is one of the many unsung heroes that we’re proud 
to have on our team. After both earthquakes, Jeff was pivotal in enabling 
us to support staff and the wider community. When Jeff needs time out, 
his favourite place is the mouth of the Waimakariri River.

What’s in a brand? 

The Greenstone story –  
a New Zealand company  
buying a global energy  
brand – has made for an  
interesting brand story  
as we work to reflect our  
‘New Zealandness’ and  
our values as a nation.

This report will be printed just after we communicate 
publicly our decision on the future of our brand, and what  
it stands for – a decision we reached after listening to  
17,000 Kiwi consumers and hearing what matters to them.

One thing is for certain: our brand will factor in four key 
areas to the best of our abilities: alignment with our values 
and our purpose; the wishes and needs of Kiwi customers; our 
intention to build a strong, world-class Kiwi company; and 
the opportunities to tell a compelling local story. These things 
matter to us. They also have to matter to our customers. 

We want to make it easier for people to make buying decisions 
based on values as much as price, to see in our company a  
spirit that reflects them and the things that are important  
to them, and to feel that, in supporting us, they are actively  
helping to grow a distinct and substantial Kiwi company.

Jane Anthony, Marketing Manager at Greenstone 
Energy, with one of the people who matters most  
to her – her son Will. Jane is determined to develop 
a brand that stands for what matters to Kiwis.

Left, Marko believes we  
are “changing the rules for  
the better” where decisions 
are based on what will  
benefit New Zealand  
and New Zealanders.

  “ new Zealanders will respond  
positively to a business they  
see as one of their own and that
 understands what they’re all about.”

Our support for Christchurch 
included 100,000 litres of  
jet fuel, for flights in and  
out of the city.

Building on what we bought

events in Christchurch

While for many customers little appears to have changed,  
behind the scenes the move to localise the Shell network 
as a world-class Kiwi company has generated exciting 
opportunities. At the same time, the fact that the transition  
from a multinational to a locally owned and operated 
business has taken place without too many hitches shows 
the prudence of having brought so much of the local Shell  
expertise over to the new entity. It’s a tribute to the experience  
and commitment of our management team, their teams 
and of course our strong retail and business networks that 
our business has, for the most part, continued seamlessly 
across the country. Where there have been issues – such as 
diesel shortages in the South Island – I’d like to apologise on 
behalf of Greenstone Energy to those who were affected. 
Sincere thanks for your understanding and patience.

Our hearts continue to go out to the people of 
Christchurch. The Board was quick to support the 
company’s efforts after the first quake in September, 
and following the second quake in February 2011, we 
pledged further and ongoing support for our staff, their 
families and for the city. On behalf of the Board, I want 
to once again acknowledge and thank our people for 
the extraordinary commitment and professionalism 
they have shown. As a local company, we are here for 
the long haul – for Christchurch and for our people. 
We will continue to work through the specifics of the 
further support we can provide for as long as it takes.

Increasing loyalty

room for growth

In its time at the helm, Shell guided this company 
through many changes and initiatives. A key one was  
the decision in 1996 to be a foundation member of 
Loyalty New Zealand – the company behind the hugely  
successful Fly Buys brand. The new owners recognised 
from the outset that this programme was a significant asset.  
Not only does it provide Greenstone with opportunities  
to reward Kiwis in a range of ways, it also offers the means  
to better understand the buying patterns and demands 
of customers. Expanding the programme this year to 
include Air New Zealand is a fantastic example of Kiwi 
success stories joining forces to broaden their collective  
and individual appeal and thus gain greater loyalty.

We are confident that Greenstone Energy will realise its 
goal to be a world-class Kiwi company by building on 
what it has bought, listening and responding to what 
our customers tell us and adding new ways of doing 
business that suit who we are and where we’re going.

The Board is pleased with progress. Already, we’re seeing  
our returns improve and our market share in both the  
commercial and retail markets climb. There’s room for 
steady growth in the future. Clearly, New Zealanders 
will respond positively to a business they see as one of 
their own and that understands what they’re all about.

Finally, to the many New Zealanders who chose to express  
their confidence in us through our retail bond issue and 
through their daily decisions around where they shop, 
our thanks. We are determined to make you proud.

Greenstone meets around  
a third of New Zealand’s 
total fuel demand.

Marko Bogoievski
Chair,  
Greenstone Energy

Chair’s report:
“Changing the rules for the better”

Welcome to the first Greenstone 
Energy annual report. We believe 
that for the first time ever, a  
New Zealand-owned energy 
company is reporting to fellow 
Kiwis about what it has been 
doing during its first year of 
ownership. Such transparency 
is a sign of Greenstone’s clear 
intention to change the rules for 
the better in this country.

Greenstone Energy’s two shareholders – the  
New Zealand Superannuation Fund and Infratil 
Limited – made the decision to buy the Shell retail 
network and the other ‘downstream’ assets because 
we saw significant opportunity for development. We 
recognised that by applying a Kiwi mindset we could 
change how New Zealanders see the market’s biggest 
fuel supplier. Importantly, we could also help secure 
the country’s energy supplies at a time when some 
of our overseas competitors were looking to reduce 
their investment in New Zealand. For the Board, it’s 
been exciting to oversee the dynamic shift in thinking 
that Mike Bennetts and his team have driven into the 
business over the last year.

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11 15

 
 
  
 
Mike Bennetts believes 
New Zealand needs  
substantial companies  
to invest in resources  
and infrastructure.

  “ What you told us made us rethink 

the fundamentals of what our 
customers want.”

Keeping everyone in the loop

Greater expectations

What 17,000 New Zealanders told us through the  
major research programme that we undertook during 
2010 made us rethink the fundamentals of what our 
customers want. For example, we learnt that you don’t 
like to be asked about specials at the counter. You 
told us offers are important. We also found out that 
performance-based fuels were not the big drivers for 
choice we thought they were. 

Your feedback gave us valuable clarity around:

•  where we need to go with our retail and 
    commercial offers

•  what being part of the local community really
    looks like 

•  how to contribute to the national debate on
    infrastructure 

•  as a supplier of fossil fuels, the importance of our
    role in supporting a sustainable energy future.

These are not things our company is well practised at, 
yet. We’ll give them our all but I’m sure we won’t get it 
right all the time. I was pleased to see from the research 
that people will go on a journey with a local energy 
company like ours, but … and there is one … we need 
to be straight up when we get things wrong. 

So we are trying a bunch of things to open up dialogue, 
and find greater opportunities to listen, some of which 
are illustrated in this review. Our Facebook site, for 
example, is about hearing what our customers are saying,  
not just telling them our story. Our response to the 
Christchurch earthquake also shows that we want to do 
what matters for the local community, not just what is 
easiest for those in a corporate head office. 

I have been asked a few times why we are publishing an 
annual report. After all, there are lots of reasons why we 
do not need to develop and distribute this document: 
there are no disclosure requirements to meet as we are 
not a public company; our competitors don’t do this; it 
costs time and money… and so on. 

While all these points are true, they are far outweighed 
by the responsibility we have as a local company to each 
of you. You deserve to know what we are doing with 
the capital our shareholders have invested in us and the 
funds our bondholders have lent us. You should know 
more about the great people inside our company and 
why they are committed to doing a great job, what we 
are doing to contribute to New Zealand’s economic 
prosperity, and what we have done well and not so  
well in our first year.

We’ve also asked a couple of well-known stakeholders 
to share their thoughts, unedited by us, because we 
think that’s the right thing to do. We want to hear and 
express a range of views about what matters in the 
downstream fuel business. 

This industry has historically been quite opaque. What 
happens through a complex supply chain is relatively 
unknown by most New Zealanders beyond the service 
station experience. Nevertheless, at Greenstone we are 
committed to greater transparency about the current 
issues in our sector, our financial performance, how we 
impact local communities and what the big decisions 
are that lie ahead for us as a company. 

That’s why we’ve also taken the opportunity of this 
report to talk openly about our concerns. One is that 
current returns in this industry are simply not strong 
enough to encourage or enable sustained investment, 
and that lack of investment will continue to erode 
supply security and customer choice. 

What we do makes a big difference to both Kiwi 
consumers and businesses. Our sales volumes are evenly 
split between consumers at our service stations and all 
the businesses in this country that need liquid fuels – 
the airlines, contractors, farmers, fishing companies,  
ships, truckers, and general industry. So many Kiwis  
use our energy because people need to move. The 
energy to move powers our economy and our individual  
quality of life. And movement requires fuel.

Chief executive’s report:
“new Zealand needs substantial local companies”

It’s my pleasure to give you an 
update on where we’ve got to at 
the end of our first year. We’re 
fortunate to have nearly 100 
years of legacy through our  
Shell heritage. As new owners, 
we recognised the need to honour 
both the people who went before 
us and the business relationships 
and assets we took over on 
1 April 2010.

One of the great risks when ownership moves between 
parties is that both customers and safety can get lost 
in the countless changes that need to take place. So 
our primary focus in the first few months of local 
ownership was to ensure that momentum inside the 
business continued, that customers were looked after 
and that our operations ran safely and reliably. I take  
it as a sign of success that many people didn’t even 
realise that a change in ownership had taken place. 

With confidence confirmed, we could then turn our 
minds to the challenges of creating a stand-alone  
Kiwi company, no longer a mixture of disparate teams 
operating as a branch office for a global organisation. 
This meant we had to disconnect from Shell Trading, and 
find a myriad of ways to plug into local communities.

  “ you deserve  

to know what 
we are doing.”

That goes, I think, to the bigger point. We haven’t  
just taken over Shell – we are transforming Shell in 
New Zealand from the local arm of a global empire  
into a world-class Kiwi company with a workforce  
and purpose that we can truly call our own. 

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11 17

 
  “  the words ‘what matters’ 
  have many perspectives – for 
  our customers, our people, 
  and others that we work with.”

Matching listening  
with rethinking

In the past year, we’ve matched a lot of the listening 
done through our research projects with ample 
thinking about our future through our Strategy and 
Brand projects. The Shell brand has served us very  
well for almost 100 years and we’ve been getting  
plenty of feedback about what to do with the Brand  
in the future – I am not short of advice in this area! 

We have given this a lot of thought and have an exciting 
story to tell. Rest assured that we will be telling a very 
different Kiwi story. 

New Zealand needs substantial companies that are 
committed to this country, backed by Kiwis and 
that will make the investment in resources and 
infrastructure needed to ensure our company moves 
forward. Our strategy work has shown us there are 
plenty of opportunities to shape a better future for  
our company. 

The downstream fuel sector is restructuring in front 
of our eyes and the mix of participants and assets that 
make up our industry will likely be quite different in 
a few years’ time. The creation of Greenstone and the 
departure of Shell from the retail landscape is the most 
tangible example, but there will be more to come.

We are well placed to respond to, and in some cases 
catalyse, those changes. Our strategy provides us with a 
pathway to do this in a responsible manner. Improving 
our financial performance will serve as the foundation 
for much needed investment in our customer offers  
and infrastructure. 

Defining our purpose

Across the company we have had conversations about 
why we are here and what we are here to do, where we 
are going, and how we will get it all done. In business 
speak these are usually known as Purpose, Strategy and 
Values. It’s been incredibly exciting to have these sorts  
of conversations and to see how energised our people 
are when given the chance to generate a bigger future 
for a local company. 

We have decided our Purpose – the reason why we are 
a team and work together here at Greenstone Energy. 
Very simply, Greenstone’s purpose is the energy to 
do what matters. The “energy” takes two forms – the 
obvious physical attributes of our products, as well as 
the emotional energy that our people bring to work 
every day. 

The words “what matters” have many perspectives –  
for our customers, our people, and others that we work 
with. They are meant to be inclusive and encourage 
focus because getting clear on what matters is vital in 
today’s competitive market. They also help guide our 
people to stop doing what they’ve always done, or what 
is easy, and instead to get after the important stuff. And 
they’ve inspired us to step back from decisions that may 
have worked globally and to make decisions instead 
that are good for our customers, such as bringing our 
call centre back to New Zealand from the Philippines.

I have been really encouraged by how our people have 
engaged with the intent behind our Purpose. As Chief 
Executive, it is very satisfying to hear people discussing 
what matters for our internal way of working, to hear 
marketers challenging whether our programmes will 
really matter to our customers, and for the corporate 
team to be thinking about what matters to the broader 
stakeholder group and how we connect with them in  
a meaningful and productive manner.  

“The downstream oil  
sector is restructuring … 
the mix of participants 
and assets will likely be 
quite different in a few 
years’ time.”

Chch

A special tribute to our  
people in Christchurch

Events in Christchurch have disturbed every New 
Zealander to the core in recent months. I personally 
have spent time in Christchurch with our people after  
both events, and on both occasions, have been struck  
by two things: the massive sadness and devastation 
of what has occurred; and the amazing resilience, 
commitment and bravery of Cantabrians, including 
Greenstone’s people. 

We count ourselves hugely fortunate that every one of 
our people has been safely accounted for, but we also 
know that we have people working in our network 
right now who are trying to help people heal, have 
damaged or destroyed houses and/or whose children 
and partners are worried and traumatised. Somehow, 
they have been able to put all that to one side, and 
have continued to work and support others, including 
each other, despite numerous pressures and adversity. 
I can only say that you have my unstinting admiration, 
support and thanks.

thanks to all involved

Finally, thanks – to our local shareholders, the 3,500 
retail investors who subscribed to our first corporate 
bond issue, our ever growing customer base and the 
people of Greenstone Energy, from our Board to those  
in head office to those in the frontline managing our  
65 million customer interactions a year. 

One year on, much has changed and much has stayed 
the same within our company. But as one of my bosses 
once said to me, the best is yet to come…

Mike Bennetts 
Chief Executive 
Greenstone Energy

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

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Guest commentary:
“A powerful idea, a welcome addition”

Greenstone is the largest 
company to be returned to  
New Zealand ownership and 
local management and decision- 
making for a very long time.  
For the last 20 years the large 
cash flow, “big” franchises in 
New Zealand have been going 
one way – from New Zealand 
owners to global.  

Greenstone is the first “major” in the banking, energy 
or media sector to come the other way. In that context 
Greenstone is, in my view, very significant, and will  
10 years from now, be looked upon as a turning point. 

People congregate around powerful ideas, and are 
proud of New Zealand success stories. Greenstone has 
the potential to be an idea around which this happens. 
Brands matter. They are a short, effective way of making 
choices. For a long time in New Zealand, most of our 
powerful brands have not been our own. Greenstone, 
with its name, its identity, and its actions can have a 
very positive impact on New Zealand’s sense of self. 

Greenstone is not there yet, but has said loudly “we  
are going to give it a bloody good crack – back us.”  
I, for one, am into it. 

Greenstone is also a very welcome addition to the  
New Zealand business landscape for a series of reasons 
that go well beyond pride. The following come to mind: 

Why Greenstone is a very welcome addition to the 
New Zealand business landscape

1.  Business leadership

2.   Confidence

3.   Local job creation and talent attraction

4.   Identity

5.   Providing great investment opportunities for    
 Kiwis, and helping build a savings culture.

1. Business leadership 

Two very long term New Zealand investors –  
Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation  
Fund – have come together to invest in and  
operate a key business in New Zealand. This was  
a bold, brave move demonstrating leadership. 

2. Confidence 

  Up until this announcement, it was widely assumed 
that Shell’s assets would be purchased by an off-shore 
company. The fact that New Zealand investors had 
the confidence to back themselves to buy a company 
back off a global owner and create shareholder 
value is an important leadership statement – we 
can outperform the ‘globals’. This is something that 
needs to be encouraged. Greenstone is the product 
of vision and leadership that I hope will set an 
example other Kiwi companies follow.

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

3. Local job creation and  

talent attraction

  Having Mike on board as CEO is fantastic. 

Greenstone has created an opportunity to attract  
a talented Kiwi back to where he always wanted  
to work. In this sense, ownership matters. It keeps 
the great jobs and the talent local, and the spin-off 
effects on the economy and the community  
are enormous. 

4. Identity

  Companies like Greenstone are important  

symbolically, representing who we are and what is  
possible. They can create a sense of pride and loyalty. 
People support local brands. When 42 Below was 
Kiwi owned, it was proudly displayed front and 
centre in all the coolest bars and restaurants. Today, 
in the same bars, it is nowhere. The brand has lost 
its “feel”. In the oil industry, the brands have all 
“felt” the same – large multinationals a long way 
distant from the pulse of New Zealand. I know  
that for the first time ever, I take note of which  
gas station is which and I keep my dollars local by 
filling up at a Greenstone station, knowing that  
this is contributing to the success of a company 
who has local interests at its heart. 

5. Providing great investment  
  opportunities for Kiwis, and   
  helping build a savings culture

   NZX was thrilled to be able to assist, in some  
small way, with Greenstone’s capital strategy.  
An incredibly well received retail bond issue  
listed on the NZX Debt market literally flew out 
the doors – showing again how Kiwis are prepared 
to back great Kiwi companies and well managed 
companies when given the opportunity to do so. 

  “ Greenstone has said ‘we are going 
to give it a bloody good crack –  
back us.’ I, for one, am into it.”

Mark Weldon
CEO, NZX

Greenstone and its NZX offering assists in continuing  
the long journey to creating an ‘ownership’ and savings 
culture in New Zealand, both at a company level and 
personal level. It’s a priority that Kiwi Saver – and I 
hope partial floats of SOEs – will also help to install. I 
hope that the NZX markets again get a chance to assist 
Greenstone with capital raising and value creation in 
the New Zealand economy. 

More than that, I hope to see Greenstone grow to 
become a loved brand, and turn the industry on its 
head, in much the same way some of the great game 
changers of the corporate world have done with new 
owners taking a fresh approach to old industries. 

My vote is to go with something new – something 
identifiably Kiwi at its core. Something that suggests a 
unique way of doing things and that, like the current 
name Greenstone, will be here for the long term.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What matters 
to Kiwis...  

...matters to us

Here, Lindis Jones our GM Corporate is catching  
and releasing a brown trout in the Ahuriri River.

We think we have ‘caught’ a great business – now we 
need to develop it so it may release many benefits  
to New Zealanders in the future.

22
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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11
Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

23

What matters 
to Kiwis...  

our changing sense of who we are

No two ways about it,  
New Zealanders are changing; 
in fact, the very way we think 
about ourselves is changing. 
Our cultural identity of the easy-
going, agriculturally creative, 
underdog Kiwi has evolved. 

We still prize humility, community spirit, loyalty 
and kinship, but we have developed a pride and a 
confidence in our place in the world; an ambition to 
succeed and an interest in celebrating those who do 
well either here or overseas. Figuratively speaking,  
we’ve left ‘she’ll be right’ behind.

We’re very clear about what we, as a nation, want  
from our businesses. We want companies to call  
New Zealand home – either literally or spiritually –  
and to be involved, to stand by New Zealanders and to  
act first and fast to correct anything that goes wrong. 

Customers have higher expectations of a company like 
Greenstone in terms of doing what’s right. Because 
we live and belong here, they expect us to sort out 
problems quickly, without fuss and without needing  
to be asked.

We listened and we heard 
you – loud and clear.

Ground-breaking new research 

These are just some of the findings from one of the 
largest pieces of research of its kind undertaken 
in recent years into the attitudes of New Zealand 
consumers. Over the course of nine months, we have 
asked 2,500 Kiwis from all walks of life and from right 
across the country for their thoughts and opinions on 
what matters to them, what’s important to the country 
and what counts as Kiwi these days.

Our research captured the opinions of another 14,000 
New Zealanders through a range of survey techniques.

What emerged incredibly strongly was a refreshed 
sense of our national identity – a way of thinking 
about ourselves that we’ve dubbed ‘new Kiwi’. The tall 
poppy syndrome is fading. Instead, we’re proud of, and 
thirsty for, achievements that are truly world class, that 
discover new things and forge new paths. Our new 
national role models are organisations that have taken 
their business to the world and that compete squarely 
and on equal terms with all-comers.

new Kiwi

Quality matters. Our research shows New Zealanders 
will embrace and invest in ‘new Kiwi’ companies that 
reflect our national aspirations for excellence. But 
without that excellence, Kiwi ownership isn’t enough  
to earn loyalty – we must deliver both.

Other themes are around being inclusive, celebrating 
diversity and always being straight up. New Zealanders 
want that sense of community, but we also have a highly 
competitive streak that quickly shows its hand.

What new Zealanders expect

In terms of our own business, we gained some valuable 
insights about how customers would expect a world-class 
‘new Kiwi’ company to behave: be as quick as you can; 
recognise that fuel is not a destination for everyone, it’s 
an interruption; make timely and appealing offers that 
add to people’s sense of value; and above all else, listen.

Thanks to all those who took the time to take part. 

Greenstone’s  
shareholders

the Guardians of new Zealand 
superannuation

The Guardians’ goal is to invest to secure the long- 
term prosperity of New Zealanders by partially funding  
the costs of future superannuation and so reducing 
New Zealanders’ future tax burden. Currently the  
New Zealand Superannuation Fund is worth around  
NZ$18 billion. 

Infratil

Publicly listed Infratil Limited is a core investor in 
New Zealand’s infrastructure and utilities with an 85% 
Kiwi shareholder base. Infratil’s core strengths are in 
the areas of energy, infrastructure, risk management, 
supply chains, transport, retail and property.

together

Infratil and the Guardians share a common commitment 
to seeing this country succeed over the longer term. At 
a time when the New Zealand fuel industry generally 
has retrenched, with large-scale service station closures, 
reduced investment in infrastructure and declining 
service levels, these two organisations are bucking the 
trend. They’ve made the decision and the investment to 
grow Greenstone based on the precept that New Zealand 
must determine its own future and that the future for  
this company will be rather different from how it used  
to be. They have literally given us the opportunity to  
change the future of energy in New Zealand.

T h e   l o n g - t e r m   b e n e fi c i a r i e s  
a r e   a l l   N e w   Z e a l a n d e r s

...matters to us.

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223

 
 
 
 
 
 
our assets

Greenstone Energy currently has:

•	 A 17.1% stake in the New Zealand Refining 
  Company and pipeline which links the Marsden
Point Refinery to the country’s largest and most
important fuel terminal at Wiri in Auckland.

•  A share in the pipeline that links the Wiri terminal 
in Auckland with Auckland International Airport.

•  A share in New Zealand’s coastal fuel shipping

network, port and other regional fuel infrastructure
including bulk storage terminals. This includes 
the recent Lyttelton terminal redevelopment. 
  Costing $25 million, it has three tanks, each capable

of holding 8–10 million litres of fuel.
•  219 Shell-branded service stations.
•  94 truckstops.
•  A marine re-fuelling business.
•  Operations at Christchurch and Auckland airports.
•  The rights to use the Shell retail brand for several

years, if we choose to.

•  A 25% share in Loyalty New Zealand (Fly Buys).
•  A secure supply of Shell crude products.

Highlights  

The journey begins 

1	 The journey begins – Greenstone Energy takes over 

the Shell network on 1 April 2010.

2	 One of the largest consumer research programmes  
of its kind in New Zealand reveals what New  
Zealanders want from their retail service stations.
3	 We start landing Kiwi-owned shipments of crude 

oil, paid for with real Kiwi money.

4	 We create 40 New Zealand jobs by bringing  
previously outsourced roles home. We’re also  
working with more New Zealand companies  
than ever before.

5	 Our successful retail bond issue closes oversubscribed  

at $147 million.

6	 The Fly Buys programme launches the new Airpoints  

Fly Buys card. 

7	 The Fish for Prizes promotion is a huge success with  

nearly 2 million entries over nine weeks.
8	 We committed to an eight point community  
investment programme to help people in  
Christchurch following the September 2010 and 
February 2011 earthquakes.

9	 Greenstone subsidiary, Mini Tankers, signs a deal 
to supply biofuels for Air New Zealand’s terminal 
services at Auckland Airport.

10	 Through a range of fundraising initiatives, we 
contribute over $170,000 to Cure Kids. 

11	 Some 5,000 New Zealanders ‘like’ us on Facebook, 

and talk to us through this medium.
12	 Greenstone Energy joins the Zero Harm  

Workplaces initiative.

13	 Environmental incidents end the year at a record 
low. After selling 2.5 billion litres of fuel to  
commercial and residential customers, there was 
a total of ten small spills. All were successfully 
cleaned up with no lasting environmental impact.

14	 Greenstone brings the call centre back to New 
Zealand from Manila creating 12 fulltime jobs.

  “ It’s been a great journey so far...”

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25

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Local matters

Talking with local people matters to 
our customers... so it matters to us.

Bringing the answers home

Over the last year we’ve worked  
hard to create local jobs while  
improving our service standards.

Telnet now answers the phone on our behalf, and  
our decision to bring our call centre back here from  
Manila has created 12 fulltime Kiwi jobs. In all, we’ve 
created 40 jobs by bringing home roles in treasury 
management, marketing, asset management and 
credit functions that were all previously undertaken 
somewhere else in the world. 

We’re also working with more New Zealand companies 
than ever before. New Zealand company Integral Axon, 
New Zealand’s largest privately owned ICT services 
company, is now our IT service desk and desktop 
support provider. Gen-i provide our IT support, while 
City Care, who take care of our facilities, beat off 
international competition to secure their role with us. 

And we have partnered with innovative New Zealand 
company Fusion Transactive to upgrade and replace 
all our point-of-sale systems nationwide. Rollout 
started in July 2010 with upgrades at all our truckstops 
co-located at service stations, followed by the six stand-
alone truckstops in Alexandra, Balclutha, Methven, 
Taumarunui, Waitara and Sylvia Park. 

Left, So’o Fue has one  
of the 12 fulltime jobs  
created when we brought 
our call centre home.

taking a stake in our business

Getting to grips with our risks
With a dependence on a low- 
margin, high-volume pricing 
structure, one of Greenstone’s 
key risks is currency and 
commodity price fluctuation. 
We also needed to quantify and 
manage the new risks created 
by the Government’s Emissions 
Trading Scheme.

  “ this was about
  Kiwi investors 

opting to take a 
direct stake in 
our business.”

Mike Bennetts, 
Chief Executive

Richard Norris joined us from Transpower soon after 
we purchased the Shell business to not only help us 
identify the company’s key risks, but to align them as  
directly as possible with specific aspects of the business.  
He points to the great progress in our first year – risks 
are now identified and contained, and coverage runs 
end to end across Greenstone’s many systems.

“We’ve moved quickly, but carefully,” he says. And 
probably none too soon, given continued unrest in  
the Middle East, a volatile currency, the fact that we  
are landing our own fuel shipments here and petrol  
is now well through the $2 per litre barrier. “The 
key point is to control as much as we can so that 
Greenstone has the greatest level of say over what 
customers are paying for their fuel.” 

Changing our bank debt  
arrangements

When the business was purchased, our debt was held 
by one banking syndicate with a single maturity date. 
Diversifying the portfolio seemed the most prudent 
option, but the global financial crisis meant other 
banking options were limited.

In September 2010, in conjunction with ANZ and First 
NZ Capital, Greenstone went to the market with a retail 
bond issue with the aim of securing $100 million of 
funds from domestic investors to repay bank debt and 
increase funding flexibility.

We closed oversubscribed at $147 million – an extra-
ordinary response given this was the first bond issue since 
the beginning of the crisis by an unrated issuer that was 
neither quasi-government nor a top 15 listed company. 

As Chief Executive Mike Bennetts observed, “Investors 
know us. They come into our stations every day, 
and I’m certain that familiarity helped give them the 
confidence to want to participate. Even more than that, 
this was about Kiwi investors opting to take a direct 
stake in our business.”

“Because of their willingness to support us, the  
strength of our Kiwi ownership has been reinforced, 
our funding lines have been restructured to provide 
greater flexibility and we are uniquely positioned to 
grow Greenstone into a world-class company.”

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27

 
the fuel journey

Fuel products are the lifeblood 
of our business, so when we 
separated from Shell we made 
sure our international supply 
chain was strong and robust.

Getting it right

We know that to achieve our goal of being a world-class 
Kiwi company, we need to nail the basics. The basics for  
us are getting fuel to our customers when they need it.

A couple of times during our first year our expanding 
market share outstripped our planning – to be blunt, 
meeting expectations along with the rise in demand 
caught us on the hop. 

One of the things you told us was that when things go 
wrong, as Kiwis we should act quickly to put them right 
– and we’ve done just that, increasing our stock levels to 
meet demand.

Crude oil is 
extracted

Crude oil is extracted from 
beneath the earth’s surface 
via oil wells from all over 
the world. Most of the 
oil we source is from the 
Middle/Far East.

sold on open 
commodities 
market

Shell Trading purchases  
barrelled crude oil on the 
open commodities market.

Purchased  
by Greenstone  
energy

Greenstone Energy  
forecasts* how much our 
customers will need and 
purchases this amount of  
oil from Shell Trading.

Arrives in  
new Zealand 

A ship delivers* the crude  
oil to the Marsden Point  
Refinery near Whangarei  
(or the already-refined  
product to terminals  
around the country).

It’s refined

Distributed

Delivered

retail outlets

The New Zealand  
Refining Company, in  
which Greenstone Energy 
has a 17% share, refines  
the crude oil into diesel, 
petrol (mogas), fuel oil,  
jet fuel and bitumen.

The refined products* are 
either piped to Auckland’s 
Wiri terminal, or shipped 
and pumped into storage 
tanks at various terminals 
via Coastal Oil Logistics 
Limited, jointly owned by 
the 4 major oil companies.

Trucks deliver fuel to our  
219 service stations and  
our 94 truckstops.

Business customers receive 
fuel via truck or barge.

Aviation fuel is piped directly 
from Wiri to Auckland 
International Airport.

Customers can purchase  
and pick up product from 
stations* or truckstops to  
use in everything from  
their lawn mower in  
Kaitaia, to their Kenworth  
in Invercargill.

*Approx. 6 months before customers buy it.

*Approx. 3 months before customers buy it.

* New Zealanders get through over 
  50 million barrels of refined oil a year. 

* Around 48% of our products go to  
   customers visiting our forecourts. 

28
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29
29

	
	
	
	
 
	
  “Completing our 
first full cycle – 
felt great!”

  Rob Freeman

Landed here  
by us for us

the new Zealand 
refining Company

On 27 June 2010, we landed  
the first Kiwi-owned shipment  
of 80,000 tonnes (US$53 million) 
of crude oil at the Marsden  
Point Refinery. 

Like the international oil 
companies, Greenstone has  
an ownership stake in the 
publicly listed New Zealand 
Refining Company. 

As Greenstone’s General Manager of Supply and 
Distribution, Rob Freeman, said: “For the first time  
in a very long time, a New Zealand-owned company 
has paid for and imported a shipment of oil to produce 
the transport fuels that keep our country moving.”

It was also our first full cycle: purchasing and paying 
for the oil, importing it, having it turned into transport 
fuels, and then selling it as more than 100 million litres 
of diesel, petrol, jet fuel and fuel oil.

We’re on target to be making around 17 of these  
shipments per year.

The Marsden Point Refinery is, by global standards, 
relatively small, but also very modern and efficient.  
It needs to be: New Zealand has among the world’s 
most stringent and demanding fuel specifications, 
producing some of the world’s cleanest and highest 
quality fuels. It can refine a wide range of crude oil 
grades, including heavy, high sulphur crude from the 
Middle East and light, low sulphur crude from Asia. 

Each company has a processing agreement whereby 
production capacity is allocated based on market  
share for each product – good news for Greenstone  
as market leader in most of our product lines. 

In addition to the products refined at Marsden Point,  
about a third of our products are imported directly  
as already-refined or finished fuels which are 
distributed directly to terminals throughout the 
country to supplement refinery production. 

Below, the Marsden Point 
Refinery, situated near
 Whangarei, Northland.

  “ this really matters to the 
new Zealand economy.”

the problems with low margins

Low margins are generally 
not talked about openly by any 
industry, and particularly this 
one – but it’s an issue that needs 
to be tackled.

Until the mid-1980s, the fuel retailing industry was 
regulated and margins of 50 to 60 cents per litre were 
guaranteed (around $1.25 per litre in today’s terms). After 
deregulation in 1988, margins were at 30 cents per litre, 
and linked directly to investment in individual sites. 
Since then, we have seen a price war that has effectively 
lead to an ‘importer margin’ of around 15–17 cents per 
litre, which has remained static over the last decade. 

And let’s not forget that all operating costs – wages, 
overheads, transport, product storage, electricity costs 
– must be paid out of that margin, and these operating 
costs are not static – rather they have continued to 
grow. For example, between 2004 and 2008, the average 
operating costs for a retail site increased by 40%, while 
storage and handling costs increased by more than  
40% between 2005 and 2010.

World-class fuel specifications – beyond those for  
much of Asia Pacific – also contribute to a higher base 
fuel cost in New Zealand.

The upshot is a post-tax margin, or net profit, of 
between two and three cents per litre, including the 
convenience store retail margins. By contrast, more 
than $1 of the pump price currently goes to the 
Government in taxes and levies.

So how has the industry made a return? Good question. 
Costs have been cut to the point where exiting New 
Zealand is a very real option for some companies – that’s 
why more than 2,000 service stations have closed, and 
more and more sites are un-staffed. 

Long-term security?

While consumers may think flat margins are a good 
thing, there are long-term term implications for 
communities, security of fuel supplies and the  
broader New Zealand economy. 

History of margins (approximate cents per litre) 

Before mid ’80’s

After 1988

since 2000

50c– 60c

30c

15c–17c

What’s happened within the margin over the last few years? 

net profits

operating 
costs

storage and  
handling costs

Net profit, (what’s left over) has reduced 
over recent years due to the increasing costs  
below. Net profit is currently 2 –3c per litre.

Operating costs include wages, overheads,  
transport, product storage and electricity.  
These costs have increased (between 2004  
and 2008, they grew by 40% on average).

Storage/handling costs have increased  
(between 2005 and 2010, they grew over 40%).

New Zealand is a difficult market. We are isolated from 
global supply chains and have stringent fuel specifications 
– especially compared with Asia – and relatively low 
volume potential by global standards. Fair margins are 
needed to ensure profitability and success in the industry, 
to enable investment in the network and in our offers to 
customers, and to deliver commercially acceptable returns  
to shareholders that recognise their investment risk. 

Our view is that margins must rise in order to assure 
security longer term. A rise of just a few cents per litre 
in terms of net profit will make a real difference to 
ensuring a sustainable, safe and reliable fuel supply  
for New Zealand, and choice for consumers. 

Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11 31

 
 
 
Guest commentary: A motorist’s view

A successful transition

Mark Stockdale,
Motoring Policy  
Team Leader,  
The New Zealand 
Automobile Association 
Incorporated 

Greenstone Energy invited Mark 
Stockdale from The New Zealand 
Automobile Association Incorporated 
to share his thoughts. 

About AA 

The New Zealand Automobile Association represents 
the interests of 1.3 million members who collectively pay 
over $2 billion in taxes each year through fuel excise and 
other levies. The AA’s advocacy and policy work mainly 
focuses on protecting the freedom of choice and rights of  
motorists, keeping the cost of motoring fair and reasonable, 
and enhancing the safety of all road users.

Fuel prices 

When it comes to the cost of motoring, fuel is a key 
component and price is our members’ main concern. 
The AA actively monitors fuel price components and 
margins and is regarded as an independent authoritative  
voice. We help motorists understand how fuel prices 
are set but also believe there is an opportunity for 
the industry to better inform the public and improve 
transparency. Few motorists realise, for example, that 
nearly half the current petrol price is tax.

Fuel efficiency

In an era of rising oil prices, consumers will increasingly  
factor fuel price into vehicle purchase and use decisions.  
Fuel efficient cars like hybrids and common-rail diesels 
will become more popular. And while the majority 
of New Zealanders cannot afford to upgrade to these 
vehicles, they can still reduce costs by conserving fuel. 

In 2010, the AA ran a series of tests that demonstrated 
that motorists could reduce their fuel consumption by 
30% or more by adopting simple fuel-saving practices. 
Oil companies also have a role to play in helping customers  
manage fuel costs. The AA would like to see, for example,  
service stations actively encouraging customers  
to regularly top up their tyre pressure when they’re 
filling up which can help reduce fuel consumption.

exploring alternatives

Customers will also be looking to alternative fuels to 
reduce their costs and carbon footprint, and while oil 
companies in New Zealand are not presently obliged to 
supply biofuels, they do have a responsibility to explore 
renewable and alternative fuels to improve security of 
supply and reduce motorists’ fuel costs and emissions. 
Biofuels can also offer a point of difference for retailers, 
and, as they become economically viable against higher 
mineral-fuel prices, they may offer a cheaper option.

the challenge ahead

The challenge for oil companies will be to manage static 
or falling demand resulting from higher fuel prices. 
The price spike in 2008 saw a drop in petrol sales, while 
the subsequent recession affected diesel demand from 
the commercial transport sector. With service station 
income linked to sales volumes, this will influence 
the level of competition, retail price structure, and 
availability of outlets in the future. 

For our size, New Zealand is a competitive market well 
served by four national oil companies and a smaller 
independent chain in the North Island. But the retail 
market is going through change, potentially reducing 
choice and competition and bringing more regional 
price variation. Oil companies are reviewing their 
investments in New Zealand and their network pricing 
structures. There has been a decline in the number of 
smaller privately-owned suburban and provincial sites, 
an increase in large sites with cafes and retail space 
covering a wider geographic area, and the introduction 
of pumps at supermarkets. 

In these conditions, motorists will be looking to 
Greenstone to keep prices as low as possible just as 
Shell previously did, and build on its status as a locally-
owned retailer to develop further points of difference  
in the marketplace. 

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

And all this was achieved with minimal disruption  
to the business, even as we dealt with other issues  
such as the GST change and the Retail Bond issue. 

A key reason things went so well was the regular  
communications, undertaken face to face, through 
newsletters and subsequently via our new Intranet, that 
ensured stakeholders inside and beyond Greenstone  
understood what we were looking to achieve and why. 

We now have a robust framework in place for programme 
and project management, investment decision-making, 
roles and skills that will serve us well into the future.

Sheena Thomas, 
Communications Advisor, 
came to the company during  
the middle of a major 
transition project – from 
a multinational to a  
stand-alone Kiwi company.

It was critical to us, both for the  
integrity of the purchase itself and  
to protect shareholders from risk,  
particularly in the first year of  
ownership, that we achieved a  
smooth transition from Shell to 
Greenstone Energy. 

Our dedicated transition team used a world-class 
methodology, approach and tools to successfully  
transform us into a strong Kiwi company within 
budget, ahead of time and with a higher level of  
ongoing operational savings than expected. 

As a result, we were able to mitigate significant risks 
in our people and capability gaps, safety and crisis 
management, IT infrastructure, business continuity 
and disaster recovery. New priority capabilities and 
functions were also established, including payroll  
services, marketing, asset management, IT and treasury. 
In total we created 40 new roles in New Zealand that 
had previously been offshore. Other key deliverables 
included an Enterprise Risk Management framework, 
the Business Transformation Office and a comprehensive 
Investment framework.

We also enhanced our third party relationships,  
leading to a number of Kiwi partners joining us  
on the Greenstone journey: Gilbarco and City Care  
Limited for our fuel and non-fuel maintenance; Gen-i,  
Integral Axon and Fusion 5 for our information  
technology needs; Telnet for our customer call  
centre; Fusion Transactive and ECL for our major  
site systems replacement.

 
Customers matter

We’re proud to be a new Zealand company 
and to be looking after new Zealanders,  
at work and on the road.

Business case study

Pan Pac is one of the country’s 
biggest forestry companies, based 
in Napier. Our relationship 
with them goes back more than 
20 years, but 10 years ago, 
they made the move to another 
supplier. Now they’re back.

Right, as part of our 
investment in the Pan 
Pac business, Greenstone 
has built a truckstop on a 
new site with an 80,000 
litre diesel tank.

They are back after a tender process just over a year 
ago, and a key reason for that, says Mark Watson, 
Greenstone’s Area Manager, Commercial Fuels, Central 
North Island, is Greenstone’s commitment to building  
a strong relationship and our willingness to invest.

With such a huge operation, Pan Pac needs three 
different types of fuelling: a truckstop for their fleet; 
mini tanker services for their smaller tanks and for 
their machines; and fuels that need to be delivered 
directly to the forestry crews. All up, that’s more than 
10 million litres of fuel annually, delivered half to the 
forestry crews and half to Pan Pac themselves. 

“Anytime you have crews sitting in the forest unable to 
work because there’s no fuel, you have huge frustration 
and revenue loss,” explains Mark. “Our Northfuels 
team, which deals with the forest crews, makes weekly 
deliveries to every crew to ensure there’s no downtime.”

As part of our investment in the Pan Pac business, 
Greenstone has also built a new truckstop with an 
80,000 litre diesel tank, which has its fuel delivered  
by Greenstone contractor Hooker Pacific.

One of the things that makes life easier for the customer  
is that all three delivery arrangements – to the 
truckstop, to the tanks and machines, and to the  
crews – take place under a single invoicing system  
that promises consistent pricing and less paperwork. 

Left, Neil Weber, from 
Pan Pac is chuffed to be 
able to work with a New  
Zealand-owned supplier.

 “ ...we reckon we touch every 
new Zealander at least once 
every day.”

every new Zealander,  
every day.

Greenstone’s involvement 
reaches much further into  
this country’s economy than  
its service station network. 

From the trucks that bring our exports to port, to the 
fuel for the ships in those ports, the bitumen on our 
roads and even household products – we reckon we 
touch every New Zealander at least once every day.

FlyBuys

A i r p l a n e s

Cruise liners

W a y s   w e  
m a y   r e a c h   y o u  
t o d a y

Bitumen on motorways  
and roads

V e h i c l e s   a n d   m a c h i n e r y  
( F u l t o n   H o g a n )

Milk and dairy  
(Fonterra trucks)

Service stations

Trains (KiwiRail)

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

35

 
station to station: our retail network

Our 219 service stations 
nationwide are by far the most 
visible part of what we do and 
the most common way New 
Zealanders interact with us.

We have a 30% retail market share – the largest in the 
country. Many of our sites are in prime locations with 
growing traffic volumes – over 80% of our sites pump 
more than the industry average of 3.2 million litres of 
fuel per year. Twenty-one have pumped greater than 
8.0 million litres this past year, and our newly opened 
Bethlehem site, just north of Tauranga, is on track to 
pump nearly 10 million litres of fuel!

We’ve also opened a new site at Lakeside on Auckland’s 
North Shore, another at Waiuku, and one more at 
Waiouru is on the verge of opening.

the most successful loyalty  
programme in the world

Our involvement in Fly Buys is one of the reasons for 
our market leadership – we are the only fuels retailer 
in the Fly Buys programme and own 25% of Loyalty 

New Zealand, which in turn owns Fly Buys. Fly Buys 
is the most successful (by household penetration per 
capita) loyalty programme in the world with more than 
2.2 million active accounts (75% of all New Zealand 
households). On average, each day, a Fly Buys card is 
swiped more than 300,000 times.

Every retailer would love to have more conversations 
with customers about the things that matter to them, 
but most would struggle to do this as effectively as 
we can through Fly Buys. This year, for example, we 
emailed over one million customers with targeted 
offers, for occasions ranging from anniversary 
weekends to special retail offers and promotions. 

In November 2010, Fly Buys partnered with Air  
New Zealand to launch the new Airpoints Fly Buys 
card. Importantly, the card brings new motivation 
opportunities to the overall Fly Buys customer base, 
which has historically tended to be more oriented 
towards women and households. 

We also offer our customers opportunities to gain 
discounts on their fuel through supermarket chain 
Progressive Enterprises. Today, more than half of all 
our retail fuel transactions involve the use of a Fly Buys 
loyalty card and/or a supermarket discount voucher. 
Perhaps that’s not so surprising. In tougher times, 
consumers look to their brands to deliver value.

Fishing for customers

We ran some extraordinarily successful promotions this  
year designed to boost loyalty and get more people to our  
outlets. Of these, the runaway success was Fish for Prizes,  
a promotion we ran through October and November 2010. 

Normally, if you get 5% of people entering a competition, 
you’re happy. Fish for Prizes was up over 25%, an amazing  
2 million entries – an entry for half of New Zealand’s 
total population.

We think one of the reasons for our success is that fishing 
really resonates with New Zealanders. As a Kiwi company, 
we get to make decisions here about what people like us 
want, rather than having them made for us overseas.

  “ retail in today’s 

economic climate 
is challenging.”

new Zealand 
favourites 

Around 30% of all our retail transactions are products in  
our convenience stores. Another 15% are a combination 
of store products and fuel. Here’s the top foods and 
beverages you are most likely to buy from us.

Some top sellers (units) – by category

Beverages

V bottle (350ml)

Food

Mrs Mac’s steak & cheese (200g)

Perishables

Rivermill white toast (600g)

Ice-cream

Tip Top choc bar

Confectionery Wrigleys PK orange gum

Chips

Copper Kettle sea salt (40g)

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11 37

 
A Mini-Tanker delivers 
fuel directly to a commuter  
ferry via a hose, at Queens    
 Wharf in Wellington.

This business is all about 
flexibility 

Bringing fuel to machines,  
not machines to fuel

Mini-Tankers, a franchised  
diesel distribution business, 
is a 100% owned subsidiary 
of Greenstone, offering direct 
machinery refuelling.  

On-site refuelling means less downtime and increased 
productivity, as well as reduced fuel consumption, and 
environmental and health and safety risks.

Loads ranging from very small amounts to full 
truckloads of 7,000 litres go to customers where it’s 
impractical to store fuel on site, such as roading and 
forestry operations, and those who like the flexibility 
and benefits a smaller truck operator provides. 

Mini-Tankers also have a supply deal with Biodiesel 
New Zealand to distribute B20 – a mix of 80%  
mineral and 20% biodiesel – for customers in  
Auckland and Christchurch. 

At Auckland International Airport, Mini-Tankers 
supply Air New Zealand with B20 for equipment like 
baggage tugs, generators, forklifts and airbridges. No 
diesel is stored on site – Mini-Tankers deliver the fuel, 
made from sustainably farmed, used canola cooking  
oil, into their gear at the airport every day of the year.

“This business is all about flexibility,” explains Chris 
Jarvis of Mini-Tankers. “For some companies that’s 
about how they access the fuel they need, for others  
it’s about getting access to fuels, like biodiesel, that 
enhance their brands and fit with their values.”

  “ one third of our non-retail  
business involves trucking.”

taking care of business

Investing in trucking  
infrastructure

Inevitably, changing demands and continuing  
pressures on costs and time-to-market require constant 
innovation. One third of our commercial business  
involves trucking, and this year we’ve worked hard  
and invested boldly to maintain, and in some cases 
rebuild, our commercial infrastructure. 

We replaced and re-tanked our truckstops in  
Palmerston North, Invercargill and Northland.  
We also installed fuelling facilities for key clients 
including Pan Pac, Regal Haulage, Christchurch  
International Airport and Stevensons. And we 
worked with Fusion Transactive to introduce a  
new card system for our trucking clients to make 
transactions easier and faster.

Working for all participants

Not all the major players are participating to the  
same extent. By exiting parts of the economy they  
may see as low on returns, others have essentially 
handed over cost and responsibility for the full 
servicing of industries critical to the New Zealand 
economy to those that choose to remain. 

We’re committing to New Zealand and to doing all 
we can to raise productivity in the industry and the 
economy. Part of this commitment is being straight 
up about the need for fuel margins to begin to enable 
investment in the country’s energy infrastructure.

“If it rolls, we have a role.”

For our retail customers, price, 
service, fun and rewards are real 
incentives. For our commercial 
customers, it’s all about what 
and when – reliability and 
responsibility. The common 
theme though is clear: make the 
customer the absolute focus of 
what we do every day.

the key to our economy

Fuel is such an important part of the economy that 
securing supply is a necessity. Given how far we are 
from our supply lines, if the other oil companies were 
to leave and couldn’t be replaced, the country would 
literally grind to a halt.

The strength of a New Zealand-owned company is that 
our commitment is to this economy, not a globalised 
agenda. We have a direct interest in ensuring that 
the country’s supply lines work efficiently – whether 
it’s getting visitors here, moving milk from farms to 
factories or supermarkets, transporting logs to ships or 
building strong roading systems. As David Robinson, 
our General Manager Commercial, likes to say: “if it 
rolls, we have a role”. 

A complex and highly  
valuable business

Our commercial business accounts for 1.4 billion litres 
every year out of the total 2.4 billion litres we sell. Even 
though it operates on big volumes, and adds economies 
of scale, the significant working capital and debtors ledger  
means that the commercial business must improve 
returns to pull its weight. 

Getting it right is about having an eye across the entire 
economy. Even within each sector of our commercial 
business, there are segments that operate and think in  
very different ways. Take aviation for instance – airfields 
and jets have very different needs. So do fishing fleets 
and cruise ships in the marine business. 

Across the economy

Commercial

Bulk fuels

Truckstops

Mini-Tankers

Aviation

International flights,  
including a major  
contract with  
Air New Zealand

Helicopters

Flight schools

Marine

Container ships

Cruise ships

Fishing fleets

Ferries

Bitumen

Roading companies

Chemical

Only sulphination  
plant in New Zealand

Manufacture surfactants 
and detergents

Industrial solvents  
and polyols

38

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

39

What makes an organisation 
effective? We think it’s a clear  
purpose and values, rewards  
for people’s achievements,  
and a working environment  
that’s as safe as it can be.

People matter

An inspiring place to work

 At the end of our first year, 
Greenstone has around 240 
employees, and around 2,500 
people work on the forecourts  
of our service stations. 

The vast majority of staff who were with Shell before  
the changeover have either stayed with Greenstone or  
transferred internationally, meaning our company comes 
into this business with all that knowledge and experience.

Of the 20 strong Greenstone leadership team, half are 
Shell veterans, and the rest have come from elsewhere. 
They bring a diversity of thoughts and experiences in 
sectors ranging from telecommunications and banking 
to infrastructure and other forms of energy; from 
consumer-facing and corporate backgrounds; and from 
big and small companies.

  “ We’ve got 

through a lot in 
our first year, 
but there is of 
course plenty 
more to do!”

extraordinary leaders  
make a huge difference

Leadership is a big focus for us because of the influence 
of leaders on culture. We have built a tailored leadership 
framework from scratch to reflect who we are and 
where we are going, and to play to our strengths. It is 
built around two philosophies: extraordinary leadership 
produces extraordinary results; and every single person 
can be a leader. It also takes place across three levels: 
senior leaders; people leaders; and leading self. In other 
words, you don’t have to be a manager of people to 
display leadership.

Such a far-reaching realignment of work practices 
and priorities takes time and frequent consultation 
to ensure people are informed and comfortable with 
progress. We’ve got through a lot in our first year, but 
there is of course plenty more to do!

Left, Jonathan Hill,  
Corporate Communications 
Manager, with Rata, at one 
of his favourite areas along  
Wellington’s rugged  
southern coast.

A deep sense of purpose

Our organisational development over the past year  
has centred on developing new people practices 
that better suit the direction and strategy of our new 
company, and our priorities and objectives as a  
business and an employer. 

Culture underpins every organisation, and this past 
year we have all worked on defining Greenstone’s 
purpose and values – a much greater level of engagement  
for employees who came across from Shell where  
these organisational pillars were globally set.

We’ve focused on making the values we work to 
reflective of what’s important to us collectively, to 
our direction and to the changes we are making 
internally. We are shifting the emphasis from processes, 
frameworks and policies to a culture where our ways 
of working are influenced by the values we work with, 
offering greater freedom to achieve strong outcomes.

Values are also a powerful way to unite the wider 
organisation, including our retail site staff, and those 
people who represent us but don’t necessarily work  
for us – for example, our contact centre staff. 

Aligning safety to culture

In our industry, safety must be the number one  
priority across everything we do.

To mitigate the risks that arose out of leaving behind 
Shell’s standards and global performance network, we 
took the opportunity to rethink our plans. We were 
committed to learning from the legacy policies that had 
worked well, initiating new ways of working that align 
directly with what we believe and targeting local risks. 
We have a dedicated local team with a health and safety 
manager. We have also moved from a compliance-
based Health and Safety (HSSE) regime to one centred 
on our culture, establishing a tangible link between our 
purpose as an organisation and the health and safety  
of our people. 

The goal is to encourage people to do the right thing 
not because they have rules, but because the behaviour 
itself feels right. It’s great to be able to report that this 
year saw no drop in health and safety performance. 
This next year, with our safety culture installed and 
maturing, we will move forward to focus on the  
health and wellbeing of our people.

Greenstone and  
sustainability 

Greenstone sells non-renewable  
fuels, which is not a great  
starting point for a conversation  
around sustainability. 

But Greenstone is, above all, an energy company and 
is committed to making a contribution to a more 
sustainable planet. A real contribution; not greenwash.

Sustainability matters to our customers and it matters  
to our own people. Over the last year we consulted 
with a wide range of experts to develop an approach to 
sustainability. We are at the start of a journey and we 
commit to reporting back to you on our progress yearly. 

For us, sustainability has three components – financial;  
communities and people; and environmental. 

This report goes into some depth in terms of our 
financial sustainability and how we operate in and 
contribute to local communities. We will provide more 
detail on our community engagement in subsequent 
reports. Our financial results are reported six-monthly 
via the New Zealand Stock Exchange and are available 
on our website.

Here, we want to highlight a starting point snapshot of 
some key measurements in the area of our health and 
safety and environmental performance. These numbers 
provide a benchmark we will report against and build 
upon on an ongoing basis. 

Key indicators

Lost time injuries

4

Spills 

10 – no lasting 
environmental impact

Average age of  
underground tanks  
(800 across retail network)

15 years

40

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11 41

 
Greenstone’s governance

our Board

Greenstone’s Board of Directors  
draws on a wide range of 
experience in infrastructure, 
energy, retail and corporate 
governance to provide guidance  
for setting long-term strategy 
and overseeing our performance.

Alan Dunn – Director

Alan brings substantial retail management and leadership  
experience to the Board having been CEO and Chairman 
of McDonald’s New Zealand from 1993 to 2004. 
Subsequently he became Chicago based VP Operations, 
then Regional VP Nordics and Managing Director Sweden,  
retiring from McDonald’s in 2007 after 30 years. Alan  
now manages his own business, Trumpeter Consulting, 
which specialises in business leadership and development. 
He is also a Director of New Zealand Post, Burger Fuel 
Worldwide, along with a number of private companies.

Peter Griffiths – Director

Peter recently retired from BP New Zealand Ltd after 
a successful 21 year career. His previous roles included 
General Manager BP Papua New Guinea; Commercial 
Manager for BP New Zealand’s Fuel and LPG interests; 
and Terminal Operations Manager. For the last 10 years 
he was Managing Director of BP New Zealand Ltd 
and also Chairman of BP South West Pacific Ltd. Peter 
has previously served on the boards of New Zealand 
Refining Company Ltd, Liquigas Ltd and Bitumix Ltd. 
He is currently a Director of Wanganui Gas Ltd,  
New Zealand Oil and Gas Ltd, and New Zealand 
Diving and Salvage Ltd. 

Marko – Chairman

Alan – Director

Pa u l   –   D i r e c t o r

Peter – Director

Lib – Director

Marko Bogoievski – Chairman

Marko is CEO of both Morrison & Co and Infratil.  
He joined Morrison & Co in 2008 from Telecom  
New Zealand where he was Chief Financial Officer, 
responsible for corporate finance, M&A and group 
strategy. He is a Director of Infratil, Infratil Energy 
Australia, Victoria Electricity, TrustPower and 
Auckland International Airport. Marko previously 
worked for a number of years in New York after  
earning his MBA from Harvard.

Paul Fowler – Director

Paul recently retired as the founding CEO of Nyrstar 
NV, the world’s largest producer of zinc metal. Prior to 
this he was COO of Zinifex Ltd, an Australian zinc and 
lead mining and smelting company. Paul has also been 
CEO of Fletcher Challenge Forests and Carter Holt 
Harvey Forests. Prior to joining Fletcher Challenge 
in 1996, Paul spent 15 years with BP in a variety of 
executive roles including crude oil trading, strategic 
planning, refining and retail marketing. During his 
career Paul has lived and worked in the USA, UK, 
Australia and New Zealand. He holds dual citizenship 
in New Zealand and the USA. Paul has previously 
served on the boards of New Zealand Refining 
Company Ltd and Evergreen Forests Ltd.

Lib Petagna – Director

Lib Petagna is an Executive Director and COO  
of Morrison & Co. Lib has extensive transactional 
experience across multiple sectors and has led a 
number of acquisitions and divestments in the  
airport, energy and transport sectors in Australasia 
and Europe. He has led Morrison & Co’s entry into 
wholesale funds management and the agriculture 
sector. He is also the Chairman of New Zealand Bus,  
New Zealand’s largest public transport operator  
and a Director of HRL Morrison & Co, Infratil  
Property and Fisher Funds Management.

signing up  
for zero harm  

In July 2010, around 75 New Zealand business leaders, 
including leaders from other members of the Infratil 
family and our own Chief Executive Mike Bennetts, 
signed up for the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety 
Forum’s vision of ‘Zero Harm Workplaces’. This was 
launched by the Prime Minister in Auckland. 

The Forum is focused on improving safety leadership 
and on delivering zero harm workplaces in New 
Zealand. This is entirely consistent with Greenstone’s 
own commitment to best practice health and safety. 

Alongside membership to the Forum, and reviewing 
our health and safety programme, we’ve been working 
closely with regulators to establish more meaningful 
relationships and to ensure we have all the practices  
in place to do the right thing by everyone associated 
with our business. 

                                 www.zeroharm.org.nz

42

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

43

                                      
Greenstone’s management

The Greenstone Energy senior 
management team reports to the 
Board on overall performance 
and is responsible for the day-to- 
day running of the company’s 
national operations.

Lindis fly fishing in  
the Ahuriri River

Rob at  
Coronet Peak

David horse riding at Operiki

Mike catching snapper at 
Omaha Beach 

Huma at Bluff

Mark F. sailing on  
the Hauraki Gulf

Mark E. visiting Queenstown

Rhoda at the Ellerslie races

Mike Bennetts – Chief executive

Lindis Jones – GM Corporate

rob Freeman – GM supply and Distribution

Mark Forsyth – GM retail

Mike became Chief Executive of Greenstone Energy 
after 25 years with BP in a variety of downstream roles 
in New Zealand, China, South Africa, the UK and 
Singapore. His last role was as CEO of BP’s Eastern 
Hemisphere supply and trading business.   
David robinson – GM Commercial

David joined Shell in 1994, with a variety of commercial 
management roles in New Zealand, Australia and the 
UK. He is a Director of Greenstone subsidiary Mini 
Fuels and Oils Limited. David is responsible for all 
business-to-business activities, including Aviation, 
Marine, Bitumen, Chemicals, Bulk and Shell Card Fuel.

Lindis joined Greenstone from ANZ National Bank 
where he was the Head of Property. Prior to that, he was 
with Shell for 13 years, primarily in retail operations 
and strategy in Europe, Asia and New Zealand. Lindis 
is responsible for Strategy, Corporate Communications 
and Regulatory Affairs.
Huma Faruqui – GM Capability and  
organisational Development

Before moving here from the UK in late 2003, Huma 
worked in HR roles for Deutsche Bank, Cater Allen/
Abbey National Bank and Deloitte. In New Zealand she 
has held HR leadership roles with Vero Insurance and, 
most recently, Telecom. 

Before moving to New Zealand, Rob held senior 
management roles in Shell Australia in commercial 
marketing, services, distribution and logistics. He is 
a Director of Wiri Oil Services Ltd and New Zealand 
Oil Services Ltd. Rob is responsible for the fuel supply 
distribution chain, from sourcing in international  
markets to domestic distribution and supply.
Mark edghill – Chief Financial officer

Mark has worked in finance and business development 
roles with Coopers & Lybrand in the UK and Sydney, 
and James Hardie in Sydney, Manila, and Amsterdam. 
In 2001 he moved to Crown Castle as Director Finance 
and Company Secretary, before spending time as a 
Director for a Brisbane-based aid industry start-up.

Mark held management positions with Shell in  
New Zealand, the UK and Ireland. He oversees 
Greenstone’s 219 service stations and 94 truckstops,  
as well as marketing, brand and asset management. 
Mark is a Director of Loyalty New Zealand Ltd. 
rhoda Holmes – GM transition and operations

Rhoda worked for Infratil in the lead-up to the purchase  
of Greenstone, building the new organisation’s transition  
and operations plan. Rhoda has over 25 years’ experience 
in the Information Technology and Telecommunications 
industry in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.  
Rhoda has been responsible for managing the transition 
workstream in disconnecting from the Shell Global 
business and setting Greenstone up as an independent 
stand-alone company.

44

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45

Communities 
matter

new Zealand communities are our  
communities. We stand by our people.  
We stand by what they do. And when 
new Zealanders are in trouble we’ll be 
there, right alongside the next person,  
doing our bit to make sure things are  
as good as they can be.

responding to the Christchurch quakes

When the big shake hit 
Christchurch in the early  
hours of 4 September 2010, most 
of our operations came through 
largely unscathed and we 
were back in business within 
days thanks to a huge effort 
by site staff, retailers, territory 
managers and engineers. 

By keeping our sites running, we helped families to check  
on one another, emergency services to operate, and 
people to move about and assist with the clean-up effort. 

At the end of September we gathered together a group 
of site staff, retailers, commercial customers, suppliers 
and Greenstone staff to talk about how we could help 
their communities. Here is what they came up with:

•  We contributed towards psychological support  

for members of the community. 

•  We contributed to the rebuilding costs of the 
Kaiapoi Rugby League Clubrooms, which  
doubles as an after-school childcare centre. 

•  We set up a School Principals’ Fund and contributed 

a total of $10,000 to four local schools. 

•  We helped fund a transport provider for children 
whose schools had been closed to get them to 
their temporary school location.
In conjunction with our maintenance partners 
City Care, we helped fund the rebuilding of the 
Halswell Primary School playground. 

• 

•  We made a $10,000 donation to the Kaiapoi  

Volunteer Fire Brigade

•  We helped people who were part of the Kaiapoi 
Volunteer Fire Brigade who had been affected. 
•  We donated $10,000 worth of our people’s time  

to reconstruction and community projects in the 
city and suburbs.

Halswell School  
received a donation of 
$10,000 to help rebuild  
the kids’ playground.

Left, Jeff Waghorn,  
operator of the Kaiapoi  
station said he was “thrilled 
to be able to help”.

The second quake in February was a huge blow to 
everyone. There was so much hope that Christchurch 
was once again finding its feet and on the road to 
recovery. After that tragic event, we pledged to continue 
to invest in our Christchurch operations and to support 
the rebuilding of Christchurch. We also quickly 
reassured our own people that their jobs were all safe. 

Within a week, we had 16 retail sites and all six of our 
truckstops up and running, and we were continuing 
to re-open retail sites. Only three sites were so badly 
damaged that they were closed for an extended period 
of time. Throughout those traumatic days, our Mini- 
Tankers continued to work extended hours refuelling 
machines and generators for the recovery operations. 

As the only energy company with terminal facilities 
remaining in Timaru, Greenstone’s terminal proved  
an essential lifeline for the city. Trucking fuel from 
Timaru instead of from Dunedin saved days of 
delays and meant strong enough fuel supplies across 
Christchurch and our sites to see us through a period 
of unprecedented panic buying.

Once again, it took a massive effort by all our teams 
across the country, but we managed to keep a steady 
supply of fuel coming through to the people of 
Christchurch under the most testing of circumstances. 

Following the February quake we:
•   Committed to keeping our operations and all jobs  

in the city.

•   Actively supported our people on the ground on  

an ongoing basis.

•   Provided free fuel to emergency services, emergency 

generators and earth-moving equipment.

•   Donated 100,000 litres of jet fuel to Air New Zealand  
to enable humanitarian flights in and out of the city.
•   Froze the price of fuel for more than three weeks in 
the city despite sharply rising oil and fuel prices.

©
F
Y
D

North Shore – Foundation  
for Youth Development

Waipuna Hospice received  
over $4,000

supporting  
good work 

Late last year, when we asked  
Bay of Plenty locals to vote for 
their favourite charity, we got  
a huge response. 

We said we’d donate one cent per litre from all the fuel 
sold at our new Bethlehem site during its opening month 
to five local charities.

Waipuna Hospice received the greatest number of votes 
and over $4,000 of the $7,200 raised. 

Charity

Waipuna Hospice

Volunteer Fire Service Omokoroa

Homes of Hope

Bethlehem Foundation

Lions of Bethlehem/Te Puna

% of votes

56%

18%

12%

8%

5%

In a similar initiative for the opening of Shell Lakeside  
on the North Shore at the end of October, four local  
North Shore charities benefited:

Charity

North Shore Hospice

North Shore Hospital

Foundation for Youth Development

Parent Port Inc Takapuna

% of votes

56%

20%

15%

6%

46

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11 47

 
 
 
  “ you can still talk about those 

decisions with the people affected 
by them with respect.”

Dealing with  
tough stuff

Below, how the  
Waikouaiti service  
station was damaged.

Sometimes, tough decisions need 
to be made – but even then there 
is still an opportunity to salvage 
something from the situation. 

When our Waikouaiti service station was extensively 
damaged by an accident, there was really no option 
but to close the site, which was already suffering from 
declining sales. 

Both the Palmerston and Waikouaiti sites had been 
small, low-volume sites that simply couldn’t cut it in 
today’s competitive, low margin market. Greenstone 
had just completed a $215,000 investment on a fit-out, 
including new pumps and a shop upgrade, of the 
Palmerston station to ensure its long-term viability. So, 
with Waikouaiti out of action, we extended operating 
hours at Palmerston, and most of the Waikouaiti staff 
transferred there.

We understood only too well that local people were 
upset that the Waikouaiti site had been closed, but there 
was no economically viable way to revamp both sites. 
In the words of Greenstone Energy’s General Manager 
Retail Mark Forsyth, it was either one site upgraded or 
both sites shut.

Business requires tough decisions sometimes, but as 
Mark says, you can still talk about those decisions with 
the people affected by them with respect. People won’t 
always like or agree with what you’ve done, but they will 
remember that you took the time to listen to what they 
had to say.

A face on facebook

Social media offer Greenstone 
simple and direct ways to 
listen to our customers and 
to the community – and a 
striking point of difference 
from our competitors.

At present, nearly 6,000 New Zealanders ‘like’ us on 
Facebook. There, we share stories, tell people about 
promotions and ask questions about what’s going on 
for them on our Wall. But mainly, we listen.

In turn, people feed back to us their experiences, 
tell us what they have heard about the company 
and send in photos. They tell us what they like and 
what they don’t like – about our company or life in 
general. It’s also a great opportunity for customers 
and even staff to ask questions, and for the answers 
to be shared with everyone.

As a proudly New Zealand company, Facebook 
strikes us as a really simple way to talk things over. 
That can’t be a bad thing. 

www.facebook.com/ZenergyNZ

 Jonathan Devine

R e d   N o s e   ‘ b a k e - o f f ’  
c o m p e t i t i o n

Above, our Christchurch 
staff getting into the Red 
Nose Day spirit!

sticking our nose in

This year we partnered with 
Cure Kids to bring back Red Nose 
Day, an inspiring event funding 
research into life threatening 
diseases affecting New Zealand 
children and their families. 

Since its formation, Cure Kids has funded over $25 million 
of research to help save thousands of lives and improve 
the quality of many more.

It didn’t take much to get our retail staff right into the  
spirit of the cause and they set about selling badges, car 
noses and Cadbury Jaffas with a passion. The overall 
goal was to raise $1 million, with 100% of the purchase 
price of Red Nose merchandise going directly to Cure 
Kids. Our efforts in store and other fundraising events 
contributed over $170,000 of the total raised. 

Above, Our Miramar  
retailers generously  
donated an extra 5c  
per unit sold directly  
to Cure Kids.

48

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49

 
 
results matter

We’re committed to providing our shareholders 
and investors with an appropriate return  
on their investment. At the same time, by  
securing our company, we protect new  
Zealand jobs and strengthen the role we  
can play in this country’s future. 

Financials:

1. Crude and Pump Prices

2. Indexed Annual Motor Spirit Sales

nZD/barrel

$/litre

160

140

120

100

80 

0
1
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a

M

0
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0
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1
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1
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1
1
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M

– Dubai Crude NZD
– Pump Price – Regular Petrol (RHS)

2.30

2.10

1.90

1.70

1.50

104

102

100

98

96 

0
1
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a

M

0
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1
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1
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– Industry (excl. Greenstone)
– Greenstone

3. Indexed Annual Diesel Sales

4. Gross Refining Margin

115

110

105

100

95 

0
1
r
a

M

0
1
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A

0
1
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0
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1
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1
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– Industry (excl. Greenstone)
– Greenstone

nZD/barrel

25

20

15

10

5

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2011

5. Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation, Amortisation and 
     Financial Instruments (EBITDAF)

$m

200

150

100

50

1.  Crude prices have risen rapidly since mid-February as a 
result of uncertainty in the Middle East, combined with 
a weakening New Zealand dollar following the February 
Christchurch earthquake. Pump prices have lagged these 
crude price increases.

2.  Annualised petrol sales volumes have increased since  

Greenstone bought the retail network from Shell, despite  
a small decline in total industry sales.

3.  Greenstone has won significant new commercial contracts 
from our competitors during our first year of operation. 

Charts 4, 5 and 6 show performance figures for Shell (New Zealand) 
for their last full five years of operation, from the year ending  
31 December 2005 to the year ending 31 December 2009.  
Figures for 2011 are Greenstone’s figures for our first full year  
of operation ending 31 March 2011. 
4.  The Gross Refining Margin (GRM) is the difference in value 
between the products produced by a refinery and the value 
of the crude oil used to produce them. The GRM is affected 
by international crude and product prices.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2011

5.  Current Cost earnings (EBITDAF) have improved despite 

6. Return on Average Capital Employed (ROACE)

20%

15%

10%

5%

0% 

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2011

volatile oil prices and the February Christchurch earthquake. 
Current Cost EBITDAF is an industry-accepted measure of 
operating profitability. EBITDAF is calculated by taking net 
income and adding back interest, taxes, depreciation,  
amortisation, and financial derivative expenses. 
‘Current Cost’ is calculated on the basis that as fuel is sold, a 
roughly similar amount will be purchased. This differs from 
‘Historic Cost’, which uses the cost of fuel sold on a first-in, 
first-out basis. 

  As Greenstone constantly sells fuel and buys product to 

replenish our inventory, Current Cost earnings are a more 
relevant measure of the company’s performance.

6.  ROACE is the rate of return on capital employed in the 

business (the long-term funds supplied or invested by the 
creditors and owners of the company). Capital employed  
can be defined as the total of non-current liabilities and 
owner’s equity. An investor can compare this return to  
alternate investments with similar risk profiles. 

  2011 ROACE is impacted by fair valuation of assets as 
required by accounting standards, and by Greenstone’s  
higher cost of debt capital.

Bank covenants

Greenstone continues to trade comfortably within all bank  
covenants, designed to satisfy our bankers that we are generating 
sufficient cash to cover our interest (fixed) costs, that we have 
sufficient liquidity to fund our working capital requirements, 
and that our debt is within acceptably managed levels.

report for bondholders

A more detailed financial report for Greenstone’s bondholders 
will be produced in June. This will be sent to bondholders as 
well as posted on the NZX website.

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11

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Join us on the 
next stage of 
our journey...

Visit www.z.co.nz

Thanks for reading the year that was – 
Greenstone Energy Limited 
3 Queens Wharf 
PO Box 2091, Wellington, 6011 
0800 474 355 
www.facebook.com/ZenergyNZ

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Greenstone enerGy – ProGress rePort 2010/11