Troubled Blue Sky seeks rainmaker in new chief Kim Morison

KIM Morison, the man in charge of troubled Brisbane investment firm Blue Sky following the resignation of Rob Shand, knows about doing it tough.

Blue Sky has appointed Kim Morison as interim managing director. Picture: Liam Kidston.

WEATHER WARNING

KIM Morison, the man in charge of troubled Brisbane investment firm Blue Sky following the resignation of Rob Shand, knows about doing it tough. Morison grew up on a West Australian wheat farm where regular droughts meant a rough and ready existence.

With Blue Sky in a world of pain following questions from short sellers about the performance of the business, that upbringing may stand him in good stead. Morison went on to a career at Colly Cotton, CSR and Macquarie Bank before landing at Blue Sky in 2010. Not surprisingly, he took an interest in Blue Sky’s investment in water, with the firm one of the first investors involved in Australia’s $30 billion water trading market. No doubt Morison will be hoping his appointment will give the firm some drought-breaking news.

His holding in the firm has slumped from a peak of $13.4 million last November to $2.8 million on Monday. Along the way, he pocketed $575,000, selling 50,000 shares for $11.50 a pop. The company’s share price peaked on November 2 at $14.99, valuing it at $1.16 billion. By Monday, the company founded by Mark Sowerby in 2006, was down to $240 million, or $3.10 a share. Dry spell indeed.

CHEQUE MATE

YOUR diarist is always interested in his old stamping ground of Hong Kong. So he took keen note, while chatting with HSBC Queensland state manager Jeremy White last week, of a framed copy of an old cheque hanging on the wall of the bank’s office in Queen St.

The cheque for £11,008,857, sixteen shillings and nine pence purported to be the payment made by China to Britain in May 1898 to regain ownership of Hong Kong, which had been seized during the Opium Wars.

China continued to claim sovereignty over Hong Kong, which was returned to the motherland in July 1997 under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

For the century prior to that, large tracts of Hong Kong, including the New Territories, were held by Britain under a 99-year lease.

While the cheque, which is now held under trust by Queensland Tourism Industries Ltd, cannot be authenticated, it purports to be payable to the British and drawn on the account of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

Of course, China now says Britain never had any legal right to Hong Kong given the territory was ceded at gun point. But that’s another story.

SECRET SAUCE

IS it a sign local nosh houses are doing it tough? Your diarist’s favourite yum cha palace in Fortitude Valley has instituted something it calls its “standard sauce policy.” The policy means customers who use more than one dish of chilli or soy sauce are slugged an extra $1. A big bowl of chilli sauce will cost you $5, while if you really like soya sauce, a bottle can be purchased for five bucks. You might recall from previous City Beat mentions that management likes to keep a tight control over costs. A sign warns all-you-can-eat diners that “if a guest wastes more than a potion (sic) of food, we may charge it as a la carte menu price”.

It is also the joint that stipulates a height restriction for the children’s discount. Kids under 140cm pay $10 for the all-you-can-eat lunch, while kiddies over that height must pay the full price of $22.80.