Share registry guru Chris Morris sees value in hotels

Computershare is at a record high for Chris Morris, who has parlayed his wealth into casinos, islands and pubs.

Billionaire Chris Morris. Picture: Zak Simmonds.

Billionaire Chris Morris has about 120 million reasons to be happy with the progress of his share registry firm Computershare.

The company’s share price hit a record high on Friday and was solid yesterday, giving founder Morris a stake worth more than $675 million.

Morris founded Computershare 40 years ago with sister Penny Maclagan, and listed it on the ASX in 1994 at $1.80 a share before turning it into the world’s largest share registry company.

Computershare is now worth 10 times its float figure and the wealth of Morris, who is now a non-executive director after decades at the helm as chief executive and then chairman, is worth $120m more on paper now than at the beginning of the year.

The company’s shares are up about 20 per cent since January 1 and about 40 per cent in the past 12 months.

Morris may get even wealthier, with analysts forecasting another strong year after a record net ­profit in 2018 of $US300m ($410m).

The company will pay shareholders a 21c-per-share dividend next month, which will result in Morris pocketing a $7.3m cheque. He has often used his dividends or share sales for an eclectic mix of investments, ranging from a collection of small-cap stocks to ­casinos and tourism assets in Australia and overseas.

Morris owns The Ville Casino and Resort in Townsville, as well as the Orpheus Island Resort and Daintree Eco Lodge in Queensland, the Mount Mulligan cattle station near Cairns and also the Nautilus Aviation helicopter business in the state’s north.

The Ville is undergoing a $43m refurbishment and adds to Morris’s Colonial Leisure Group, which owns more than $100m worth of pubs and hotels. Among CLG’s assets are the Portsea Hotel on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Sydney’s Newtown Hotel, eight venues in Western Australia and the Pennsylvania Castle in Dorset, Britain.

Then there is Morris’s share portfolio, which has had a rollercoaster ride of late.

One is Smart Parking, of which Morris is chairman, having first become involved in 2011 when he took what was then a small listed play called Empire Beer Group and turned it into a technology play.

It has not been without its ­issues, with Morris describing a 2012 purchase of British business Town and City as inheriting something “dysfunctional”.

After several years of relative peace, all hell broke loose earlier this year when Morris removed the management of the British ­operation in May, alleging misconduct.

Shares of Smart Parking have since halved and while the company has not revealed exact ­details it did at least say the misconduct was not of a criminal or ­illegal manner.

Morris also has shares in online advertising technology company Adslot, which is down 45 per cent in a year, uranium miner Alice Queen, down 50 per cent, and transport surveillance firm DTI Group, which has also halved in value.