infratil limited is a new zealand-based infrastructure investment company .

it owns airports , electricity generators and retailers , and a public transport business , with operations in new zealand and australia .

infratil was founded by the late lloyd morrison , a wellington-based merchant banker .

morrison 's company , h. r. l. morrison & co , is responsible for infratil 's management and administration .

infratil

infratil market update | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
infratil infrastructure bond offer opens | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
this was the most active year for acquisitions in infratil’s 23 - year history ,
infratil said .
infratil acquires stake in canberra data centres | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
infratil commits to development of renewables in the u . s . | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
infratil chooses sectors which offer patient investors exceptional returns . each of infratil’s businesses has the prospect of a
step up
in value .
when a dividend is declared by infratil it will be announced if the plan will apply ( i . e infratil can elect to paying only cash dividends ) . infratil has not applied the plan to dividends since 2013 .
in 2004 , morrison & co drew on 15 years of energy operating experience , registering for a licence to establish infratil energy australia on behalf of infratil . infratil energy australia comprised of two businesses , lumo and direct connect .
for investors | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
investment strategy | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
investment activity | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
infratil earnings up 2 . 5pc - $ 1b waiting to invest - nz herald
infratil affirmed 2017 earnings guidance of between $ 475 million and $ 515 million .
in each case when infratil bonds have matured they have been repaid for cash .
infratil commits to development of renewables in the u . s . | scoop news
infratil shares were up 1 % at $ 3 . 02 after the announcement .
infratil had provided a $ a22 . 9 million loan to support the business ,
and mr foster expected infratil to provide more information on perth energy .
nz ' s infratil invests in u . s . renewable energy firm longroad | reuters
anu student accommodation | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
* the bar in red indicates where infratil ltd ' s current ratio falls into .
canberra data centres | infratil - renewable energy , transport , data and social infrastructure .
infratil ' s businesses provide services that are the fabric of the communities where they operate .
businesses which could have a material impact on infratil’s activities . however this time , rather than infratil’s management being absorbed into hands - on roles those will be undertaken by envision’s management .
all of the infratil bonds are listed on the nzx and most trade on a regular basis . mainly however investors hold to maturity so trading is much less than for infratil’s shares .
also peter coman has been appointed as chief executive of morrison & co and infratil property .
infratil has today completed its acquisition of a 48 % interest in canberra data centres ( cdc ) . as previously advised , infratil ' s 48 % investment is matched by commonwealth superannuation corporation , alongside cdc ' s executive ( 4 % ) . marko bogoievski chief executive officer infratil limited
in the year 2007 , infratil limited was named company of the year by deloitte management magazine .
admin : ift : infratil limited ( ift ) : asx listing rule 1 . 15 . 3
infratil ltd ' s current ratio for the quarter that ended in mar . 2018 is calculated as
regan is involved the preparation of management and financial reports for infratil , including annual and half year statutory accounts . he also provides support with the preparation of budgets and tax returns for infratil .
the terms of infratil’s bonds are set out in their individual prospectus and trust deeds ( and summarised in the relevant investment statement ) . each six months infratil provides the trustee with a certificate signed by directors confirming its position relative to the bond covenants and with regards to general compliance with bond terms . infratil has always recorded conformity . bondholders are welcome to contact the trustee to confirm infratil’s compliance .
infratil announced its full year results for the period ended 31 march 2018 on thursday 17 may 2018 .
infratil ' s assets are its shareholdings in the highlighted companies and a number of less material investments .
three recent investment initiatives are summarised below to illustrate infratil’s approach , thinking and the influence of circumstances .
but infratil ' s board and management had to be open to the risks and how to react .
further information is available on urltoken or by contacting fiona cameron ( infratil ) on 04 473 3663 .
infratil and the nz superannuation fund will own the business in partnership with the management team of longroad .
the us provides a unique opportunity to enter one of the largest and fastest growing renewable markets in the world , in a sector infratil has significant experience and comfort investing in . infratil’s partnership with the former management team of first wind combines local knowledge with the capital of infratil and the nz superannuation fund .
the weather literally provided a late windfall for tilt and trustpower’s generation ,
infratil said yesterday .
infratil has delivered 16 . 5 % annualised compound total shareholder return ( after tax ) over 23 years
“the acquisition of cdc provides infratil with a meaningful exposure to the emerging data and related telecommunications infrastructure sector , which we have been following for some time , ” said marko bogoievski , ceo of infratil .
infratil had been interested in data and telco infrastructure for some time , chief executive marko bogoievski said .
the acquisition of cdc provides infratil with a meaningful exposure to the emerging data and related telecommunications infrastructure sector , which we have been following for some time ,
infratil chief executive marko bogoievski said .
infratil limited share registrar , link market services , po box 91976 , auckland 1142 , new zealand or infratil limited share registrar , link market services , locked box a14 , sydney south , nsw1235 , australia .
it is a newly formed role , and coman will be accountable for the development and performance of property within infratil . for example , he will assess potential opportunities arising for infratil shareholders from the pie regime .
the us provides a unique opportunity to enter one of the largest and fastest growing renewable markets in the world , in a sector infratil has significant experience and comfort investing in . infratil ' s partnership with the former management team of first wind combines local knowledge with the capital of infratil and the nz superannuation fund .
over the 23 years since infratil listed compound after tax returns have been 16 . 8 % per annum .
infratil made bids for all of pacific hydro as well as for its australian operations . the sector is well understood by infratil’s management and pacific hydro’s complex operational and financial arrangements were felt likely to deter many bidders . infratil’s $ 5 . 3 million of bid costs is testament to the thoroughness of the information gathering exercise .
former telecom chief financial officer marko bogoievski has been appointed chief operating officer of morrison & co and infratil .
infratil ltd ( otcpk : ifuuf ) current ratio : 1 . 37 ( as of mar . 2018 )
infratil and the commonwealth superannuation corporation have moved to jointly acquire canberra data centres under a deal unveiled today .
over the last five years infratil ' s compound after tax to shareholders was 15 . 5 . % per annum
the objective of infratil ' s management is to deliver above average returns to shareholders over the long - term .
put another way , since its listing infratil’s total value creation for shareholders amounted to $ 2 , 492 million .
this website has bids / offers and the last price of listed bonds , including all those issued by infratil .
infratil said its available cash and committed bank facilities , following the metlifecare sale , stood at $ 631 million .
infratil ltd has a current ratio of 1 . 37 . it generally indicates good short - term financial strength .
infratil advises that the australian national university ( anu ) has today awarded infratil and commonwealth superannuation corporation a 30 year concession for the net rental revenue from nine on - campus purpose built student accommodation ( pbsa ) residences , comprising approximately 3 , 760 beds . infratil’s 50 % equity investment will be made for a total cash equity . . .
we are confident ( about the extension ) because it stacks up ,
infratil chief executive marko bogoievski said .
infratil advises that the australian national university ( anu ) has today awarded infratil and commonwealth superannuation corporation a 30 year concession for the net rental revenue from nine on - campus purpose built student accommodation ( pbsa ) residences , comprising approximately 3 , 760 beds . infratil ' s 50 % equity investment will be made for a total cash equity . . .
after infratil’s sale of its stake in metlifecare , mr foster said it now had $ 630 million available for investment .
infratil airports europe and sydney airport . steve is chair of perth energy and director of retireaustralia , and perth airport .
infratil holds a 48 % shareholding alongside commonwealth superannuation corporation ( 48 % ) and cdc’s executive ( 4 % ) .
infratil limited ( ift ) invests in listed and unlisted companies in new zealand and overseas within the infrastructure and utilities sectors . infratil ' s principal investments are in energy , airports , public transport and property . infratil is managed by morrison & co infrastructure management limited . the group operates in three principal areas , new zealand , australia and the united kingdom .
with an roe of 4 . 89 % , can infratil limited ( nze : ift ) catch up to the industry ?
when a dividend is declared by infratil it will be announced if the plan will apply ( i . e . infratil can revert to paying only cash dividends ) and if there is to be a discount in the price of the shares issued .
this performance has been driven by the successful investments made by infratil . ideally they are very long - term and are in
infratil is also interested in possible asset sales in christchurch including the airport , but does not expect anything to happen fast .
infratil announces that the offer of the above series of unsecured unsubordinated infrastructure bonds is now open . infratil is offering up to $ 75 million of infrastructure bonds in aggregate across both the general and exchange offers ( as described below ) and across both series ( with the option to accept up to $ 75 million of oversubscriptions in aggregate at infratil ' s discretion ) .
joined morrison & co from kpmg in 2010 as group performance manager for infratil before moving to his current role in 2016 .
infratil prefers to invest alongside community interests ( city councils and community trusts ) . infratil ' s co - investor in wellington airport is the wellington city council . in trustpower it is the tauranga energy consumer trust . infratil recognises that infrastructure is part of the community’s social and economic capital . for a long term investor only outcomes which benefit those communities will also benefit capital providers .
the facility , which was put up for sale last year by new zealand firm infratil , has incurred annual losses of £2m .
over the 22 years to 31 march 2016 infratil ' s cumulative compound return to shareholders was 17 . 95 % per annum .
that is on our risk register
infratil chairman mark tume , told shareholders at its annual meeting in wellington on friday .
infratil is also confident in the $ 300 million wellington airport runway extension plan , and assured shareholders at their annual meeting in wellington yesterday that infratil ' s share of that potential could be funded by the company without needing to call on investors for cash .
and infratil was flexible about the ownership structure . for example it held two - thirds of wellington airport alongside the local council .
infratil limited today announced an initial investment in longroad energy holdings , llc ( “longroad” ) , a recently formed renewable energy development and operating vehicle headquartered in boston , massachusetts . infratil committed to invest in this renewable opportunity in conjunction with the nz superannuation fund .
we had expected infratil to be on the upside of the range , but this exceeded our expectations ,
he said .
infratil will invest where it has expertise , or can partner with expertise , and where it can influence the strategic and operational directions of the companies it invests in . infratil ' s management has world class expertise in respect of airports , energy and public transport .
infratil may determine to issue the shares under the plan at a discount to the market price as calculated in the manner noted above .
marko noted that the sale followed nine years of active management guiding the business from start - up through to becoming a significant market participant . “the sale of the infratil energy australia assets and the recent partial divestment of z energy both show the strength and flexibility of infratil’s operationally - focused model . following completion infratil will assess the full suite of capital management alternatives against ongoing opportunities for new investment . ”
infratil limited today announced an initial investment in longroad energy holdings , llc (
longroad
) , a recently formed renewable energy development and operating vehicle headquartered in boston , massachusetts . infratil committed to invest in this renewable opportunity in conjunction with the nz superannuation fund .
infratil and commonwealth super will have 50 - 50 governance rights . cdc founder and ceo greg boorer will continue on the company’s board .
marko bogoievski is chief executive of infratil and its manager , h . r . l . morrison & co . he joined the infratil board in january 2009 . he is a director of h . r . l . morrison & co and chair of longroad energy holdings .
since the late 1990s infratil has made a number of small investments in technology activities which were relevant to infratil’s core businesses . in net terms the investments absorbed a small amount of capital , a reasonable amount of management time and have been interesting rather than of great educational benefit .
infratil remains committed to its goal of increasing its dividends , which remains on track given the outlook for the year ended 31 march 2017 .
as a sign of its growing interest in that areas the infratil board will hold its next meeting of directors in silicon valley in california .
stakes in energy companies helped boost earnings for diversified investment company infratil which beat its guidance and delivered a larger than expected dividend to shareholders .
the deal is subject to foreign investment review board approval . infratil said subject to approval it expected to close the deal in late july .
infratil would not be able to recognise the next uber , tume said and it was
incredibly difficult
to pick winners in new technology .
infratil chairman mark tume said
we would love to get something done , it is just a matter of putting the right deal together
.
in september 2014 , infratil energy australia was sold for a $ 646m to snowy hydro limited generating a 18 % ungeared irr over 10 years .
infratil was founded and publicly listed by morrison & co in 1994 as a vehicle offering new zealand investors access to long - term infrastructure investment .
new zealand infrastructure investment corporation infratil announced today that it would pay $ 392 million for a 48 per cent stake in the data centre provider .
infratil has signed up to take the top floor of the building , which is expected to be strengthened and refurbished by the end of the year .
this update explains why infratil invested in canberra data centres , longroad energy and tilt renewables , and outlines the investment plans of each of those businesses .
infratil , the wellington - headquartered infrastructure manager , is spending a $ 392 million ( nz $ 420m ) buying a major australian data centre company .
“broadly the data infrastructure sector has been of interest for a number of years now , ” infratil ceo marko bogoievski told a briefing on the acquisition .
on 4 august 2016 infratil completed the acquisition for a $ 82 . 5 million ( nz $ 84 . 6 million ) of a 50 % shareholding in a student accommodation concession granted by the australian national university based in canberra . the other 50 % was acquired by infratil’s partner the commonwealth superannuation corporation .
infratil has issued twelve series of bonds ( four have been repaid ) and there have been different factors behind each . the first issue in 1999 was of approximately $ 66 million and was used to purchase an interest in wellington international airport . other issues have similarly been invested in assets infratil has acquired .
for example , infratil had seen the rapid rise of solar power in australia and the potential for new battery technology which would change the power sector landscape .
the longroad investment will be managed by investment management firm h . r . l . morrison & co on behalf of infratil and the nz superannuation fund .
phillippa is cfo of infratil is responsible for infratil’s financial and management reporting , taxation compliance / strategy , treasury and risk . prior to this role , phillippa had been deputy cfo of infratil and head of tax for morrison & co . phillippa joined morrison & co in 2009 from vector limited where she was head of tax . she also worked for several years providing tax advisory services at pricewaterhousecoopers , in new zealand and offshore . phillippa is a director of snapper services .
canberra data centres was infratil’s largest ever new investment , reflecting management’s high conviction of the sector and cdc’s positioning . even since infratil agreed to acquire its 48 % shareholding , the sector’s evolution seems to have accelerated . cdc offers its clients a unique ecosystem and a differentiated package of data security , accessibility and reliability .
ryan is corporate accountant , his responsibilities involve consolidated management and financial reporting for infratil as well as infratil group forecasting and budgeting . prior to joining morrison & co in 2017 ryan worked at bbc worldwide and houlihan lokey in the uk , and before this he was an audit supervisor with kpmg wellington for three years .
infratil has released the presentation material for its annual investor day attended by major shareholders , fund managers , broker analysts , regulatory agencies , business partners and commentators .
infratil’s consolidated underlying earnings before interest , tax , depreciation , tax , depreciation , amortisation and financial instruments ( ebitdaf ) was up 12 . 4 % to $ 519 . 5 million from $ 462 . 1 million a year ago . infratil’s after - tax profit declined from $ 437 . 2 million a year ago to $ 66 . 2 million , as infratil had a year earlier benefited from $ 436 . 3 million of gains on the sale of z energy and isite .
tim brown specialises in financial structuring and has been responsible for the funding of both infratil and a number of investee companies . tim is chairman of wellington airport .
infratil ' s current portfolio includes energy , renewable energy , airports , public transport , social infrastructure , and telecommunications technology in new zealand , australia and north america . during morrison & co ' s 23 years of management , infratil has delivered strong returns to a diversified set of domestic and global retail and institutional shareholders .
infratil limited advises that it has received firb approval to complete the acquisition of canberra data centres . settlement of the transaction is expected to occur this month . on 19 may 2016 , infratil announced that it had agreed to acquire a 48 % shareholding in canberra data centres ( cdc ) for total cash equity . . .
development director for infratil infrastructure property . andrew is responsible for all property development activity and value add opportunities of infratil property . previously with goodman international , andrew is involved in all aspects of master planning , consenting and development of key projects . his experience includes land development , commercial office , industrial parks and mixed use developments .
infratil is anticipating flat earnings in the 2018 financial year but is confident it can keep boosting returns to shareholders , and is still on the prowl for new acquisitions .
as infratil coo he will be responsible for driving performance and building capability across the group , and assisting in the development of future growth options , the company says .
infratil is delighted with the outcome of the strategic review which saw active participation from a wide range of domestic and international parties . ceo marko bogoievski said “the sale heralds the start of the next chapter for australia’s energy market and infratil is very proud of the business we have built to enable market consolidation of this size and scale . ”
ms sturgeon said the full terms of the agreement with infratil and the scottish government ' s business plan for the ayrshire facility would be made public at a later date .
pacific hydro’s renewable generation projects and expertise would have been a good fit with infratil . but infratil’s bid price also reflected return targets and a view about the next - best alternative investment . while the process was expensive , a lot of information and understanding has been built up which should be of benefit in making future renewable - generation investments .
envision will augment our direct infra - tech activities in australasia and help infratil separate science fiction from science fact and to get ready for change before it is forced to .
because the bonds are convertible debt obligations ( with the exception as noted above of the perpetuals and the new issue ) infratil has the right to either repay the bonds with cash or to redeem the bonds by issuing infratil shares . in certain situations ( which are detailed in the investment statements and prospectus ) bondholders may demand redemption for shares .
morrison & co , the investment bank behind infrastructure group infratil , is leaving its long - time headquarters on the terrace for a new office development near the wellington waterfront .
alison joined the infratil board in 2014 and is chair of the audit and risk committee . she has been a professional company director since 2007 and is a director of spark
all shareholders in infratil with registered addresses in new zealand or australia are eligible to participate in the plan . infratil may , in its absolute discretion , elect to offer participation in the plan to shareholders whose address is outside new zealand if the board considers that to do so would not risk breaching the laws of places outside new zealand and australia .
by meeting user and community needs , by providing good value , and by being in sectors which are growing , infratil’s businesses create opportunities to invest to lift earnings and value .
this update outlines retireaustralia and infratil’s investment case . it also explains why the investment outlook for retirement accommodation differs from the returns and risks of other segments of the housing market .
during the past 13 years , infratil ltd ' s highest current ratio was 43 . 60 . the lowest was 0 . 21 . and the median was 1 . 05 .
businesses that can generate compound returns by investing in their own activities . for instance , by 2020 ( on conclusion of the projects now underway ) wellington airport will have invested almost $ 700 million in its own activities since infratil became the majority shareholder . that shareholding cost $ 98 million , so for each $ 1 of acquisition cost a further $ 7 will have been invested growing the value of the airport ( nb . infratil owns 66 % of wellington airport so in effect $ 5 of each $ 7 invested was infratil’s ) .
roger is based in morrison & co ' s brisbane office . he has provided a broad range of advice relating to the acquisition , financing , development and management of electricity supply projects and businesses on behalf of infratil he was chairman of lumo energy and infratil energy australia until the assets were sold in september 2014 . roger is a director of perth energy .
infratil has said that renewable energy is one the top areas it is investing in due to the chance of good returns from growing global energy demand . ( reporting by charlotte greenfield )
infratil also announces that is has amended the trust deed dated 11 november 1999 , as amended from time to time , (
trust deed
) between infratil and trustees executors limited to reflect recent changes to new zealand ' s non - resident withholding tax regime . you may obtain a copy of the trust deed and the relevant deed of amendment by visiting urltoken
guidance is based on management’s current expectations and assumptions about the trading performance of infratil’s investments and is subject to risks and uncertainties , is dependent on prevailing market conditions continuing throughout the outlook period and assumes no major changes in the composition of the infratil investment portfolio . trading performance and market conditions can and will change , which may materially affect the guidance set out above .
in september 2014 , morrison & co recognised that the market dynamic was favourable for a successful sales process to maximise the investment return for infratil . the process was initiated in may 2014 with strong interest from local and international players and in september 2014 , infratil energy australia was sold for a $ 646m to snowy hydro limited generating a 18 % ungeared irr over 10 years .
interested investors , including holders of existing infratil bonds that mature 15 june 2017 , should contact their broker or one of the managers of the offer ( outlined below ) for more details .
infratil also has a much larger property exposure than most people are aware of and this will provide a great platform for me to build a growth strategy around ,
he says .
rosanne byrne is a librarian with many years experience in the business sector . rosanne is responsible for maintaining infratil ' s website . she has a ba ( otago ) , nzls diploma .
and assists with management of infratil ' s tax affairs including tax strategy and planning , compliance and reporting . prior to joining morrison & co , alicia was a senior consultant at pwc .
infratil said as at year end it had invested $ 728 . 2 million ; $ 168 . 1 million was internal capital expenditure and $ 560 . 1 million was spent acquiring new investments .
the long - term commercial success of those businesses requires that their communities are welcoming and supportive and share , along with infratil ' s employees , a
sense of ownership
in those businesses .
air travel , decarbonisation of energy and transport , accommodation and care for the elderly , electronic data storage , urban mobility , student accommodation , and residential utilities ; are all themes underlying infratil investments .
last year saw satisfactory creation of value for infratil ' s shareholders and a great deal of preparation for future investment ,
chairman mark tume and chief executive marko bogoievski said in the annual report .
infratil lifted annual underlying earnings by 2 . 5 per cent , meeting guidance , as its metlifecare and retireaustralia investments delivered bigger contributions . the listed investment firm said it is still looking for assets to buy .
sarah’s role includes company financial and management accounting for morrison & co and providing support for infratil treasury operations . sarah graduated from victoria university with a bca majoring in accounting and commercial law and is a ca .
investments are long - term . infratil invests in businesses which have the capacity to invest in their facilities and services . long - term “excess” returns can only be derived from the compounding effect of reinvesting in growth .
infratil had made it clear to the council that there was
new zealand - based equity that is quite prepared to work alongside central or local government to develop and improve these assets for the long term .
craigs investment partners broker peter mcintyre said infratil’s ebitdaf , up 12 . 4 % to $ 519 . 5 million , was
significantly above
the earlier guidance range of $ 485 million to $ 505 million .
“the business currently has ~ 30mw of capacity split across three facilities , and two data centre campuses , with two high quality greenfield development opportunities underway totalling another ~ 27mw of capacity . with the support of infratil the business is better positioned than ever to grow in support of its customers over the long term . ” the cdc investment will be managed by investment management firm h . r . l morrison & co on behalf of infratil and commonwealth superannuation corporation . infratil and commonwealth superannuation corporation will have 50 / 50 governance rights with greg boorer continuing on the board . cdc is currently owned by funds associated with quadrant private equity , the founders and management .
wellington - based investment company infratil is looking at dipping a toe into new technology investments in areas that could include thing like solar power or smart lighting systems , but in the millions of dollars rather than tens of millions .
please contact infratil ' s registry to arrange for your dividends / interest to be direct credited . you will require your csn / holder number and authorisation code ( fin ) and the account you wish to credit the sums to :
the infratil dividend reinvestment plan gives shareholders the option of receiving some or all of their dividends ( which includes other distributions ) as shares . any shareholder who does not apply to be included in the plan will receive cash dividends .
infratil has a clear strategy for providing good risk - adjusted returns for its shareholders over the long - term . it invests in sectors with powerful growth characteristics where there are opportunities for expertise and excellent management to create shareholder value .
historically infratil , a fund managed by investment bank hrl morrison & co , has invested in energy and transport assets . it still owns a majority of trustpower , new zealand ' s fifth largest electricity company , and wellington airport .
the bulk of that came from infratil ' s controlling stake in electricity generator trustpower , which is being touted for an operational split , while its retirement village investments , nz bus , and wellington international airport units all delivered increased earnings .
infratil has up to $ 1 billion to spend on new investments after selling its 20 per cent stake in z energy last year , having been unsuccessful in its bid for renewable electricity firm pacific hydro , which cost $ 5 million .
the presentations highlight the focus on deploying capital in the newly established platforms of renewables , eldercare and data infrastructure , alongside ongoing performance improvements in infratil’s core assets . key presentations this year from infratil’s newer businesses ; longroad , tilt , retireaustralia and canberra data centres ; show how they are taking advantage of their sector’s growth to create value . also covered is how generation - retailing in the new zealand electricity market can deliver satisfactory returns given low demand growth and regulatory interventions .
infratil , which already owns just over half of new zealand energy firm trustpower , said in a statement that it was drawn to the u . s . “as one of the largest and fastest growing renewable markets in the world . ”
jason is now chief commercial officer at morrison & co having joined in 2011 as head of legal from buddle findlay where he specialised in corporate , securities , and finance transactions . in that time , he worked closely with morrison & co and infratil on financing transactions including infratil ' s investment in z energy . jason also worked for two years at slaughter and may in london , specialising in structured finance and offshore funds . jason is a director of wellington international airport and nz bus .
infratil limited ( nzse : ift ) delivered a less impressive 4 . 89 % roe over the past year , compared to the 5 . 73 % return generated by its industry . an investor may attribute an inferior roe toread more . . .
infratil limited ( nzse : ift ) trades with a trailing p / e of 24 . 4x , which is higher than the industry average of 21 . 5x . while ift might seem like a stock to avoid or sellread more . . .
infratil limited ( nzse : ift ) is currently trading at a trailing p / e of 26 . 8x , which is lower than the industry average of 24 . 3x . although some investors may jump to the conclusion thatread more . . .
it was hard for the likes of wellington airport , or trustpower or z energy to directly come up with models that challenged their own business . that was better done at the shareholder level , where infratil could give things a
nudge
.
paul gough joined the infratil board as an independent director in 2012 . he is a partner in star capital partners limited , a private equity fund based in london , responsible for the acquisition and management of investments in the transport and energy sectors .
marko bogoievski is chief executive of infratil and its manager , h . r . l . morrison & co . he joined the infratil board in january 2009 . he is a director of h . r . l . morrison & co and chair of longroad energy holdings . marko has held a number of listed company board roles including z energy , trustpower and auckland airport and was previously chief financial officer of telecom new zealand . he is a fellow of the new zealand institute of chartered accountants .
while small - cap stocks , such as infratil limited ( nzse : ift ) with its market cap of nz $ 1 . 85b , are popular for their explosive growth , investors should also be aware of their balance sheet toread more . . .
that aggregates the $ 1 , 844 million 31 march 2016 market value of infratil’s equity and the $ 1 , 001 million total value of dividends paid over the full period , less the $ 353 million of equity capital shareholders have provided the company .
infratil cannot apologise for targeting a relatively high risk - adjusted return on its investments . that is consistent with the expectations of infratil’s shareholders . it is also consistent with the returns generated by other recent comparable investments . for instance in 2014 trustpower acquired renewable generation from the state of nsw for a $ 72 . 2 million which had ebitdaf of a $ 8 . 5 million . and the snowtown ii wind farm cost about a $ 500 million and is delivering ebitdaf of about a $ 70 million .
in december 2014 infratil and its partner , the new zealand superannuation fund , each acquired 50 % of retireaustralia for a sum which valued the company at approximately a $ 650 million ( debt a $ 210 million and equity a $ 440 million ) .
please would you let me have particulars relating to the transfer of assets in the sale of manston airport to anne gloag of stagecoach for the sum of £1 . 00 . is it to do with the fact that infratil owns stagecoach nz , which it bought from anne gloag in 2005 ? was the nominal price of the purchase of manston airport offset by the cost of infratil ' s purchase / ownership of $ 250 million payment for stagecoach operating in new zealand . is stagecoach uk a holding company of stagecoach nz ? i would greatly appreciate information to help me understand why infratil would sell an airport , equivalent in value to that of gisborne airport in nz , which is worth plus / minus £6 million . many thanks , t . j . iggulden stevens .
investors are always looking for growth in small - cap stocks like infratil limited ( nzse : ift ) , with a market cap of nz $ 1 . 80b . however , an important fact which most ignore is : how financially healthyread more . . .
infratil today ( 4 august 2016 ) announced completion of the acquisition of 50 % of the equity interest in a student accommodation concession granted by australian national university , with its consortium partner commonwealth superannuation corporation acquiring the other 50 % . marko bogoievski chief executive officer
a day after announcing its annual results , infratil said that it had agreed to buy 48 per cent of canberra data centres ( cdc ) , alongside the commonwealth superannuation corporation , which helps cover the pensions of australian federal employees and former defence force staff .
the first part of this goal is to position infratil in sectors where there will be opportunities to invest capital from meeting customer and community needs . the second part is to make sure that our businesses meet those needs with value - for - money services and facilities .
the company has 30 megawatts of capacity , with greenfield developments for another 27mw . according to infratil it has an annualised run rate for earnings before interest , tax , depreciation and amortisation of a $ 50m , which is expected to grow 30 per cent in the coming year .
acquisition of new businesses . the distinction matters . although infratil can position to make acquisitions by having capital available , opportunities to buy shares , such as in retireaustralia and metlifecare ( $ 369 . 2 million ) cannot be planned as they arise due to considerations intrinsic to the vendors .
wellington , oct 5 ( reuters ) - new zealand infrastructure company infratil ltd on wednesday announced that it would invest up to $ 100 million in u . s . renewable energy firm longroad energy holdings and own 90 percent of the business in conjunction with the new zealand superannuation fund .
andrew is responsible for all property development activity and value add opportunities of infratil property . previously with goodman international , andrew is involved in all aspects of master planning , consenting and development of key projects . his experience includes land development , commercial office , industrial parks and mixed use developments .
details on how to apply for the infrastructure bonds are set out in the terms sheet . the offer is now open , with the exchange offer closing on 12 june 2017 and the general offer closing on 23 june 2017 . in both instances infratil may elect to close the offer earlier .
in accordance with recently published financial statements infratil limited has current liabilities of 659 m . this is 98 . 35 % lower than that of the utilities sector , and significantly higher than that of airports industry , the current liabilities for all stocks is 98 . 02 % higher than the company .
over the last year infratil found itself in an unusual situation care of the sale from lumo , z energy and isite . it has the capacity to deploy up to $ 1 billion while still complying with target credit parameters and being able to sustain the medium term goal of lifting dividends to shareholders .
infratil reported a 7 . 1 percent decline in first - half earnings as its perth energy division struggled in tough retail conditions , leading to a downgrade in the annual earnings forecast , and has been overhauling its investment portfolio after sales of z energy , lumo and isite left it flush with cash .
in accordance with recently published financial statements infratil limited has current ratio of 1 . 37 times . this is 33 . 5 % lower than that of the utilities sector , and significantly higher than that of airports industry , the current ratio for all stocks is 58 . 48 % higher than the company .
kevin is cfo morrison & co and served as infratil ' s cfo for nine years until may 2015 . he is chairman of nz bus and a director of cdc and trustpower . prior to joining morrison & co in 2005 , kevin had considerable financial and energy sector experience as cfo of ngc holdings limited .
canberra data centres (
cdc
) signs contract with microsoft to deliver hyperscale cloud services from canberra and announces final investment approval for the 20mw fyshwick 2 data centre infratil is pleased to announce that cdc has entered into a contract with microsoft to deliver hyperscale cloud services from cdc’s two canberra based . . .
some of that capital has been poured into new investments including canberra data centres , australia national university student accommodation , and us renewable business longroad . infratil today said it still has $ 380 million of cash and available facilities and
significant near - term opportunities
in renewable energy , eldercare and data infrastructure sectors .
the current ratio is a liquidity ratio that measures a company ' s ability to pay short - term obligations . it is calculated as a company ' s total current assets divides by its total current liabilities . infratil ltd ' s current ratio for the quarter that ended in mar . 2018 was 1 . 37 .
humphry rolleston has been an independent director of the infratil since 2006 . he is a director of nzx listed property for industry and owns private companies involved in tourism , security , disruptive technology , manufacturing and finance . he is a fellow of the new zealand institute of directors and the new zealand institute of management .
nick is company secretary for infratil and provides legal advice including in respect of transactions , investment and asset management and compliance . before joining morrison & co in 2016 , nick was a special counsel at chapman tripp in wellington where he practised in business acquisitions and reorganisations , company and securities markets laws and corporate governance .
in this role , peter is accountable for the development and performance of property within infratil . mr coman was managing director – jones lang lasalle , new zealand . he has a bachelor of property administration and ba ( auckland ) and a masters of science degree in investment management from the city university business school , london .
scott is group tax manager and manages infratil ' s tax affairs , including tax strategy and planning , compliance and reporting . prior to joining morrison & co , scott was a senior manager at kpmg new zealand and has also worked as an in - house european tax advisor for both apple and sony , based in london .
someone who invested $ 1 , 000 in infratil shares on 31 march 1994 and subsequently reinvested all dividends and the value of rights issues , etc . ( i . e . who neither took money out nor put money in ) would , as at 31 march 2017 , own 11 , 519 shares worth $ 35 , 209 .
infratil expects operating cash flow of between $ 210 million and $ 250 million in the 2018 financial year compared to a forecast range of $ 215 million to $ 235 million this year , and a slightly lower net interest bill of $ 160 million to $ 170 million , down from $ 165 million to $ 175 million in 2017 .
infratil’s board announced today that it has concluded the broad strategic review which commenced on 13 may and has agreed to sell lumo energy and direct connect australia to snowy hydro limited for cash consideration of a $ 605 million plus an adjustment amount for final working capital . the transaction is unconditional and is expected to complete on 30 september 2014 .
kellee acts as legal counsel providing advice on matters concerning infratil , including transactions and general compliance . before joining kellee was a senior solicitor at buddle findlay in wellington , practising primarily in the banking and finance , company , and commercial areas . she has an llb ( hons . ) ( first class ) and bcom from otago university .
presentation slides to the briefing show the firm ' s
explicit focus
for the 2018 year will be to get the most from its existing portfolio by addressing the performance of core assets , inject capital into the highest development opportunities , and tighten the overall portfolio . infratil said uncertainty over valuations is at a peak in the investment cycle .
fiona cameron is responsible for infratil group treasury operations including cash management , funding , fx and ir management and is financial controller morrison & co responsible for financial reporting , budgeting and forecasting . fiona joined morrison & co in 2006 following roles in the energy and banking sectors . she has a bsc ( hons ) bca and is a ca .
infratil is an infrastructure investment company that dallies in a number of businesses . based in wellington , new zealand , the company is owns a public transport business , a number of airports as well as electric generators . it is also involved in retailing electricity and natural gas . the transport services of the company operate in both new zealand and australia .
infratil energy australia built a multi - channel customer strategy with a diversified and proprietary mix of direct connect , internal inbound sales , online , telesales and door - to - door teams to optimise target customer reach . a favourable non - vertically integrated wholesale strategy was also supported by peaking generation providing insurance against periods of low liquidity in wholesale markets .
this has naturally given rise to “use it or lose it” queries . there is no doubt that if infratil doesn’t deploy the funds to increase shareholder returns , it should return the capital as opposed to merely having it on deposit with a bank earning 2 % per annum . but there are two strong reasons why the directors have held off doing so .
morrison & co saw the deregulation in victoria and the potential for the same outcome in other states as a new entrant opportunity . sector consolidation , vertical integration and a shift to more sophisticated forms of pricing , retention and customer acquisition were also considered attractive when deciding to build infratil energy australia with the economics supporting a build rather than a buy decision .
retireaustralia , has today announced the appointment of two new independent non - executive directors , with professor christine bennett ao and peter spira joining the board . retireaustralia was purchased by infratil limited and the new zealand superannuation fund ( 50 % each ) on 31 december , last year . professor christine bennett ao is one of australia ' s most respected . . .
“the longroad opportunity emerged from an origination effort focused on north american renewable energy developers , ” said marko bogoievski , ceo of infratil . “we sought an experienced and proven management team with the ability to operate a large scale development platform . following an extensive review of potential opportunities , longroad emerged as the best candidate to realise our ambitions in the market . ”
the sale businesses reported a combined ebitdaf of nz $ 61 million in the financial year to 31 march 2014 . sales costs in respect of the transaction are estimated at nz $ 57 million , including an international portfolio incentive fee estimated at nz $ 44 million payable to infratil manager h . r . l morrison & co under the terms of the management agreement .
the longroad opportunity emerged from an origination effort focused on north american renewable energy developers ,
said marko bogoievski , ceo of infratil .
we sought an experienced and proven management team with the ability to operate a large scale development platform . following an extensive review of potential opportunities , longroad emerged as the best candidate to realise our ambitions in the market .
the bondholders ' rights are set out in the investment statement . however as there are technicalities and complexities in some of the terminology contained in this description it is a good idea to talk with a professional adviser such as a broker or financial planner . the bonds are not subordinated , but in certain situations bondholders may not have priority claims to the assets owned by infratil .
infratil limited has agreed to acquire a 48 % shareholding in canberra data centres ( cdc ) for total cash equity consideration of a $ 392 million . the consideration includes estimated transaction costs of a $ 11 million and is subject to the normal completion adjustments for working capital and net debt . subject to firb approval , the transaction is expected to settle in late july 2016 .
infratil ' s core cash - generating units - trustpower , wellington international airport , nz bus and australia national university student accommodation - are used to support the company ' s debt and dividend . while it ' s still looking for new additions at the right price to join that group , it will also
rotate out of businesses with declining outlooks ,
the slides said .


ascriptivism is the view that human beings are to be held responsible for their social actions .

ascriptivists hold that to say an action was voluntary on the part of an agent is not to describe the act as caused in a certain way , but to ascribe it to the agent , or to hold the agent responsible for it .

ascriptivism

( 2006 ) ascriptivism resurrected : the case for ascriptivism . in : action and responsibility . library of ethics and applied philosophy , vol 18 . springer , dordrecht
my aim here is first to argue that the objections found geach and searle do not show that pattern of analysis , ascriptivism , to be mistaken , do not refute it . secondly , and in light of the rejection of the geach - searle position . i shall defend ascriptivism , although in a version both purged and expanded . the success of that project means that keeping semantics free of pragmatics is not possible .
what must be addressed prior to seeing what effect searle ' s ( unintended ) assimilationist move has on ascriptivism are the reasons for holding that the meaning of ' good ' cannot involve a reference to commending .
a second major item to be purged from the earlier version of ascriptivism is the sharp distinction made then between evaluative and descriptive meaning and the associated claim that the descriptive meaning is dependent upon the evaluative . while there is a truth distorted in that bifurcation of two kinds of meaning , both the bifurcation and the dependence thesis are not part of a re - modeled ascriptivism . once again , a good deal of powerful criticism has been directed at this set of ideas .
the ascriptivist rebels here . ascriptivism is a naturalistic position : rather than resorting to non - natural transcendent properties discernible only by a seemingly invented faculty , it is simpler and more cogent to surrender the idea that goodness is a property and thus treat the objections to defining it as establishing that conclusion . of course , that does leave the problem of what status the predicate ' good ' has – and ascriptivism is only too happy to supply a radically non - traditional account .
geach tries to show that even if ascriptivism ' s account of meaning is rejected , it is possible to provide an account that does not run afoul of the problem ( or , in effect , searle ' s criterion of adequacy . )
i shall consequently produce a larger set of considerations , set out below in no particular order and having different degrees of significance , that ascriptivism today would rely upon to show that ' good ' cannot be defined and that therefore goodness cannot be a property . [ 13 ]
unlike geach , searle does not set out to show how ' good ' can mean the same in all the various constructions in which it can occur . however , he tries to do that for one special word and thereby , quite unintentionally , shows one way that ascriptivism might solve the challenge he has made to it .
i committed myself , and ascriptivism , to the following claim : contrary to geach , the argument form ' if that is good ( i . e commendable ) , then p ; but that is good ( a commendation ) ; ergo p ' is valid , does not contain a fallacy of equivocation . that needs defense .
while geach ' s objections to the ascriptivist pattern are vital to today ' s definist tradition , the definist overlooks his contributions to the discussion in his influential ' good and evil ' . although the main target there is again ascriptivism , his arguments entail a powerful criticism of attempts to give a definition of ' good ' .
while the standard criticisms of the ascriptivist contention - that a reference to commending is a central feature of the meaning of ' good ' - do not succeed , nonetheless the ascriptivist view is not the default position and does not automatically succeed when criticism of it fails . more needs to be said in both explanation and defense of ascriptivism .
1 . the relevant writings are : peter geach , ' ascriptivism ' , logic matters ( blackwell , 1972 ) , pp . 250 - 254 , originally published in philosophical review 69 ( 1960 ) , pp . 221 - 225 ; geach , ' assertion ' , logic matters , pp . 254 - 269 , originally published in philosophical review 74 ( 1965 ) , pp . 449 - 465 ; john searle , speech acts , ( cambridge university press , 1969 ) , pp . 136 - 141 ; ( see p . 70 of speech acts for a reference to ' ascriptivism ' . ) a related earlier paper , largely overlooked in these discussions , is geach , ' good and evil ' , theories of ethics ( oxford readings in philosophy ) , ed . philippa foot , ( oxford university press , 1967 ) , pp . 64–73 , originally published in analysis 17 ( 1956 ) , pp . 33 - 42 . to save time and space i shall refer to page numbers of those works in the body of the text , citing item and page , e . g . ( ' ascriptivism ' , p . 254 . )
the critics , geach , searle and their heirs , direct their specific objections to item ( 4 ) , the idea that whatever is done in saying ' that is t ' must be involved in the meaning of t . the earlier steps in the pattern , especially the denial that the term in question is the name of a property , are typically ignored by critics of ascriptivism .
the upshot is that geach ' s criticism of the ascriptivist position about ' good ' in particular and about the pattern generally is misguided . and since it is that criticism that has seemed to be so powerful , to deal a death blow to any attempt to indulge in ascriptivist analyses , it follows that there is no case to be made from the geach - searle perspective against ascriptivism .
since i have claimed that an up - to - date ascriptivism about ' good ' requires that goodness not be a property and that the possibility of defining it requires that it be a property , that is , that goodness be identical with a property whose basic designation is something other than ' good ' , ascriptivism must defend the moorean conclusion . on the other hand , obviously , given the direction of philosophical thought since moore one cannot accept the open - question argument as constituting the only line of defense of that conclusion . that it does seemingly always make sense to wonder whether the supposed defining property and goodness are the same , whether ' p ' and ' good ' mean the same , the open question argument can be no more than one item in support of moore ' s conclusion .
since the definist has not addressed the issue i cannot predict what they might do by way of response . however , the current ascriptivist position is that , until something is produced by way of response to the challenge , something that is worthy of serious thought , then ascriptivism holds the field . for that reason and for all the other considerations offered above , we should reject the idea that ' good ' refers to a property and can be defined in terms of that property .
however , can we really explain what it is to call something good by noting that ' is good ' is a predicate ? does that tell us whether ' good ' is a property being attributed to the thing or whether ascriptivism is correct in holding that in calling something good a non - descriptive claim is being made about the thing ? certainly not – the choice between those questions cannot be settled by simply noticing that ' good ' is a predicate in its uses in various constructions .
notice : in that account of the meaning of ' good ' , there is no distinction between two different kinds of meaning as there was in the early version of ascriptivism . the distinction between evaluative meaning and descriptive meaning vanishes , although involved in the meaning of ' good ' are both a reference to commendability and a requirement that features of the kind of thing in question must be cited in justifying a claim to its goodness . the old disputes about two kinds of meaning and which has precedence simply disappear .
strictly the argument here will focus on the analysis of ' good ' . ( in doing that i am not even committed to holding that all the other mid - century cases are in fact correct . ) occasionally i shall make some reference to ' true ' but only as a reminder that the argument is intended to have wider application than to a single concept . the reasons for selecting ' good ' as the test case is that it is central to the criticism in both geach ( though geach prefers to talk of ' bad ' ) and searle ; it is also the notion in contemporary thought that is most often and most vigorously the target of critics of ascriptivism .
of course , searle is right about those non - equivalences . however , is his representation of what ascriptivism amounts to correct ? not at all : not even in the case where something is being called good . to produce his objection searle converts ' that is good ' wherever it occurs into ' i commend that ' . though his immediate targets , the mid - century ascriptivists , were confused about the relation between performatives and speech acts generally , it doesn ' t follow that the ascriptivist pattern itself must be confused about that . for the commendation performed by calling something good is not to be represented by paraphrasing ' that is good ' as ' i commend it ' .
setting aside the
necessarily
( that shifts the meaning of what he intends ) , searle ' s test is ' a word is not changed in meaning by being located in different syntactical settings ' . searle ' s use of that test presumes that if ascriptivism were correct , ' good ' would change meaning in the syntactical change from ' that is good ' to ' if that is good ' . that is the reverse of the problem as i set it out above : there the assumption is that the word does mean the same and a problem thereby ensues . while there are serious troubles with searle ' s test – are we more certain that the test is correct than what we say about meaning in particular cases ? – let it stand since searle does make use of it .
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term due to p . t . * geach for the view ( which he attacked :
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daniel dennett advocated an approach that seems similar to davidson ' s , in that they both attempt to resolve the problem of reductionism within the materialist tradition , and that they both disagree with fodor . unlike davidson , however , dennett advocates an extremely weak , or liberal , interpretation of intelligence , ascribing it to almost anything that we usually ascribe beliefs and desires to , even if those may appear to be linguistic , e . g . metaphors .
in the head realism
says that brains may be analogous to common man - made computational devices , e . g . audio cassettes aren ' t normally understandable , but given the correct hardware they are .
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that pattern of philosophizing , which was not fully set out by geach or searle , or , so far as i know , by anyone , has the following paradigmatic shape . [ 6 ] ( 1 ) some
philosophically exciting term t ( ' assertion ' , p . 266 ) is denied , contrary to the philosophical tradtion , to be the name of a property , feature , attribute ; ( 2 ) hence , calling something t is not a report that the thing has the property t , is not a description of the thing ; ( 3 ) calling something t , saying ' that is t ' , must therefore be doing something other than reporting or describing ; ( 4 ) whatever is thereby done is an important part of the meaning of t .
before getting down to work , there are a few necessary program notes . searle speaks of the
classical speech act analysts
. since the 1950 ' s are only jarringly thought of as a classical period , i shall speak of the mid - ( 20th ) - century analysts . in doing so , i shall be retaining the idea of analysis although what was being done mid - century does not fit what g . e . moore or russell , the founders of analytic philosophy , would have thought of as analysis . analysis , an account of meaning , as understood both by searle and here , will have more in common with ryle ' s notion of logical geography and strawson ' s connective analysis . [ 7 ]
it will not be part of my project to explain and defend by name and citation those practitioners of mid - century analysis who were engaged in the ascriptivist pattern of thinking . i shall be referring only to the pattern without detailed concern for particular figures in its development and use .
the ascriptivist pattern as i set it out earlier can now be exhibited in terms of ' good ' . ( 1 ) ' good ' is , contrary to the traditional view , not the name of , does not refer to , a property , attribute , character , feature , of a thing ; ( 2 ) hence to call something good is not to report that it has the property of goodness , is not to describe the thing ; ( 3 ) what we are doing when we call something good is commending it ; ( 4 ) the notion of commendation is central to the meaning of ' good ' .
the rules of the game having been set out , it is time for the substance . the core of the critics ' position is a problem and a challenge . the problem : the ascriptivist pattern of analysis holds that ' that is good ' is , by meaning , a commendation ; but obviously when that same phrase is located in ' if ' clause there is no commendation ; yet ' good ' means the same in both constructions . the challenge : how is that possible ?
geach and searle and those who make the consequent semantics - pragmatics distinction agree that it is not possible – and hence hold that the commending cannot be involved in the meaning of ' good ' and must be allocated to some other feature of language than its semantics . on the other hand , whoever defends the pattern must show how it is possible that the word means the same in the different constructions and yet in only one of them does commendation occur . my complaint against the mid - century analysts is that they did not so much as attempt to show how that is possible . i shall be required to rectify that shortcoming in reviving the position .
searle introduces a test for the success of any analysis , for any account of the meaning of a term .
now , there is a condition of adequacy which any analysis of the meaning of a word must meet . . . . any analysis of the meaning of a word ( or morpheme ) must be consistent with the fact that the same word ( or morpheme ) can mean the same thing in all the grammatically different kinds of sentences in which it can occur . syntactic transformations of sentences do not necessarily enforce changes of meaning on the component words or morphemes of those sentences .
( speech acts , p . 137 )
given the problem situation , ( 1 ) what are the considerations offered by geach and searle to show that the ascriptivist pattern fails and ( 2 ) what efforts do they make to show that some other analysis , some other account of meaning , can succeed where the pattern fails ? both questions raise matters that are involved in updating the pattern . for reasons having to do with the aims of this paper , let me begin with the second question , an issue that may not seem the best place to start but pursuit of which reveals important matters .
before going further it is necessary to issue a warning . philosophical understanding of what it means to say that something is a predicate typically goes astray . historically , ' is a predicate ' has usually been treated as meaning ' names a property ' . so we find for instance , c . j . f . williams saying ( in connection with ' is true ' ) that
our main concern in this chapter is with whether ' - is true ' can properly be regarded as a predicate .
[ 9 ] to which the proper answer is ' of course it is a predicate – look up what a predicate is in any grammar book ' . but equally certainly what williams is doing is conflating , not idiosyncratically , ' predicate ' with ' name of a property ' . the question he is worrying about is whether ' true ' is the name of a property . ( his entire chapter illustrates over and over that conflation , even in connection with ' is good ' . )
for reasons that will emerge much later , i shall take it that when geach speaks of predication he must be treating ' predicate ' as a purely grammatical notion , not accepting the typical assumption that treats a predicate as ( necessarily ) a name for a property . and grammatically speaking he is quite correct : ' is good ' appears as a predicate in all the grammatical constructions .
geach is surely partly right : any full ( ? ) philosophical account of the meaning of ' good ' must notice that it is essentially a predicate– that we can say ' that is a good peach ' or ' the peach is good ' but cannot say ' that is a peach good ' or ' the good is peach ' . so any attempt to explain its meaning by a simple ' it is used to commend ' cannot be the full story of our understanding of what goodness is , of how ' good ' functions . on the other hand , geach ' s replacement explanation captures only part of the truth .
incidentally , nothing of geach ' s attempt to set out the meaning of the ' good ' across constructions survives into his second paper on the issues , the paper entitled ' assertion ' . perhaps he recognized its troubles .
unlike the case of ' good ' , searle needs to defend the possibility of meaning the same across all constructions for ' promise ' ( and for all the performatives . ) how does he show that ' promise ' passes the test , that it is possible for ' promise ' to mean the same in all the constructions whether or not a promise is being made ? his solution :
for example , when one says something of the form , ' if he promises that p , then so and so ' , one hypothesizes the performance of the act which he performs when he says something of the form , ' i promise that p ' .
( speech acts , p . 138 )
that completely fails to do the job of distinguishing between ' promise ' and ' good ' as he intends it to do . for the ascriptivist can say ' when one says something of the form
if the cake is good , then so and so
, one hypothesizes the performance of the act performed when someone says something of the form
that is good
. ' and so on through the various grammatical constructions .
does not searle thereby provide what was missing from the mid - century analyses , namely how to account for the sameness of meaning across all the constructions in which ' good ' can occur ? his attempt to show how ' promise ' means the same across the board has the same starting place as the standard ascriptivist position : that what is done in calling something t is the foundation for understanding the meaning of ' t ' where ever it occurs . contrary to geach , not all the constructions containing ' t ' are of equal importance in setting out the meaning of the term .
in doing that , the place to begin is by deferring geach ' s arguments and looking into searle first . in attempting to show that speech act analyses of words other than performatives are fallacious , searle offers the following argument :
but it is equally clear that the speech act analysis of the other words ; ' good ' , ' true ' , . . . etc . does not satisfy this condition [ of adequacy ] . consider the following examples : ' if this is good , then we ought to buy it ' , is not equivalent to ' if i commend this , then we ought to buy it ' . ' this used to be good ' is not equivalent to ' i used to commend this ' .
i wonder whether this is good ' is not equivalent to ' i wonder whether i commend this ' , etc . similar counter - examples will refute the [ other ] speech act analyses .
( speech acts , pp . 138 - 139 )
calling something good stands in contrast to talking about one ' s own response to the thing . the point of saying ' that is good ' is to get outside of oneself , to direct attention to the thing and its qualities rather than to oneself and one ' s response to it . both searle and the mid - century emotivists ( ayer , stevenson ) fail to notice that contrast when they assimilate ' that is good ' to ' i commend it ' or to ' i like it ' . that failure shows up explicitly when searle tries to paraphrase one of the other constructions , ' i wonder if that is good ' , as ' i wonder whether i commend that ' . searle takes that lack of equivalence to show that calling something good cannot involve commending . however , it should be taken to show that he misunderstands how the act of commending is related to the use of the word ' good ' .
for the ascriptivist the commendation is built into the act of calling something good and the aim in calling something good is not to talk about one ' s self but rather to be referring to the thing . to wonder whether something is good is to be wondering whether the thing is commendable and not to be considering whether i have commended it .
that realization supplies the clue as to how we should regard the disputed relation between the meaning of ' good ' in ' that is good ' and its meaning in its other possible occurrences , how the ascriptivist is to reply to the original challenge . when we say ' if that is good , then . . . ' we are saying ' if that is commendable , then . . . ' similarly , for the other constructions ( e . g . ' that used to be good ' means ' that used to be commendable ' ) . it is possible to have ' good ' mean the same in ' that is good ' and ' if that is good ' while being a commendation in one and not in the other : it is the notion of commendability that binds them together .
alexander miller in utilizing geach ' s objection holds that the ascriptivist position on the matter is comparable to ' my beer has a head on it ; if something has a head on it , it must have eyes and ears ; hence my beer has eyes and ears ' . [ 10 ]
the relevant comparison is more like this argument : ' if the pipe breaks , the room will be flooded ; the pipe broke ; hence the room is flooded ' . or ' if the pipe breaks , the room will be flooded ; the pipe is breaking ; hence the room is being flooded ' . or ' if the pipe were to break , the room would be flooded ; it did break ; hence the room is flooded ' . all of those arguments , despite the small changes in wording , are valid – because all the terms are part of the same families , exhibiting differences only in tenses .
c . j . f . williams , speaking for logic , puts it this way .
the last example shows that we [ logicians ] need not be pernickety about what counts as a repetition of the same sentence . . . . sometimes repetition of exactly the same words is idiomatically impossible or clumsy in english . . . . english idiom does not allow us to say ' percy said that charles would grow out of his shyness and charles would grow out of his shyness .
again :
but logicians . . . are as much entitled to take ' percy said that charles would grow out of his shyness and charles has grown out of his shyness ' as a substitution instance of ' percy said that p and p ' as they are to take ' she thought that barbara ought to pay her ' as a substitution instance of ' x thought that barbara ought to pay x ' without boggling at the change of case from ' she ' to ' her ' .
[ 11 ]
only if one is
pernickety
about sameness , only if one has extremely narrow ideas of what must be kept the same in argumentation , will one be inclined to regard the change from ' good ' as commending to ' good ' as commendable as a case of equivocation and thus the creation of an invalid argument . williams is right , logic is entitled to treat those arguments as valid – because they are valid and consequently their formal representation must treat them as valid . logicians , just as the rest of us , are entitled to reject geach ' s contention and accept the variation in terminology as legitimate when the terms are internally related , i . e . related in meaning , versions of the same concept .
the mid - century analysts did not attempt what needs to be done . for them it was a matter of insight that to understand ' good ' requires grasping its connection to commending . while insight in philosophy is not to be sneezed at ( although , with our heavy emphasis on argumentation , it typically is ) , nonetheless surely something can be said in favor of the claim over and above ' the criticism of it fails ' and ' don ' t you see ? ' .
it has long been recognized that moore ' s self - named naturalistic fallacy is mis - named . others have pointed out that he should have called it the definist fallacy . he was denying that it is possible to define ' good ' . any such a definition is intended to be reductionist : the word ' good ' would be held to mean the same as a word / phrase where the defining term is the name of , stands for a property . goodness , on that view , is identical with that property , is nothing other than , over and above , that property . ascriptivists , then and now , accept the moorean thesis that ' good ' cannot be defined , i . e . that it is not equivalent in meaning to any term designating a property , even in the very broad sense of ' property ' intended , and that consequently goodness is not a property of things .
so the outcome hinges on objections to defining ' good ' . if the definist project , and not just particular definitions , fails , then the idea that goodness is a property fails . moore , of course , came to the conclusion that ' good ' cannot be defined by employing the open - question argument : any attempt to define ' good ' fails because it will always make sense to ask ' it has the property p but is it good ? ' it is today widely accepted that the open - question argument does not do what moore assumed it did , namely provide a complete refutation of the idea that ' good ' can be defined . instead , it is merely the beginning of an extended and ramified discussion between supporters and opponents of the idea that ' good ' can be defined .
start here . although it is a clever move to have one ' s favored claim about some subject matter smuggled in as a matter of meaning , one must be suspicious about such definitions . why should not the ' definitions ' of ' good ' be regarded as substantial claims about what makes something , anything , good rather than as explications of the term ? there seems to be nothing in the definist literature addressing that question . it appears that the aim of the definist program , especially in its resurrected naturalistic ( scientistic ) form , is to get rid of , by reduction , a notion not amenable to scientific investigation .
it is often said that goodness is a moral concept .
moore sets out to argue that moral terms such as ' good ' are not definable . . . .
[ 14 ] but ' good ' is not a specifically moral term - it is applicable to items of many other kinds than to matters of morality . speaking of a good cigar or a good essay is as much relevant to the question of what ' that is good ' means , what its function is , as its reference to a person , action , etc . ( ' he is a good father ' , ' that was a good deed ' ) . in fact , given the recognition by oliver wendell holmes that hard cases make bad law , we can say that hard cases , matters of morality , make bad theses about meaning . to investigate the meaning of ' good ' we should chiefly concern ourselves with what it means to say , e . g . ' that is a good peach ' . however , the definitional enterprise does not do that . the great gap between the sorts of answers that that enterprise results in , whether naturalistic or theological , and what is going on when we consider whether a given peach is good produces deep suspicions about the legitimacy of the definist project .
as is widely recognized , what turns up when we think about what counts as a good peach are its properties ( flavor , texture , etc . ) . but when we also consider what counts , for example , as a good shortstop and what makes for a good philosophical essay , we quickly realize that there is no overlap in the properties cited in all the various cases . since none of those good - making properties can plausibly be taken as contained in the meaning of the word ' good ' - it is applicable to so many different kinds of thing - but are rather what is mentioned in the differing judgments of goodness about different kinds of things , to cigars and essays and shortstops , it certainly seems that goodness cannot be understood in terms of specific defining properties .
recalling that to talk of ( say ) a good philosophical essay in ordinary practice makes reference to characteristics of the essay , a further difficulty for the definist enterprise comes out . how do those various attempted definitions of ' good ' relate to the properties cited in our ordinary judgments of the goodness of a cake or a piece of philosophy ? are they being recommended as replacements ? are they what ' good ' really means contrary to our practice ? are they generalizations of what we are talking about when we cite the juiciness of the peach and the argumentation of the philosophical essay ? is it simply not recognized by the definist that we do make reference to such properties when we call things good ? once again , the status of the results of definist projects are not spelled out in the literature .
geach notices that from ' that is a yellow rose ' we can infer ' that is yellow ' but that from ' that is a large flea ' we cannot infer ' that is large ' . he holds that ' good ' follows the pattern of ' large ' and not of ' yellow ' : from ' he is a good assassin ' we cannot infer ' he is good ' simpliciter . it does not follow , of course , that ' good ' is not a property word , for then we would be committed to ' large ' not being a property word either : and it clearly is . but what we can conclude is that goodness is relative to the kind of thing being characterized as good . that means that there is no such property as goodness independently of the applicability of ' good ' to various kinds of things . as we have seen , what makes this kind of thing good is not what makes that kind of thing good . there is no property generally definable as constituting goodness . there is no form of the good .
there is another possible wrinkle in the definist research program . recently , perhaps from the anxiety that the open - question argument cannot be completely dismissed , that the moorean insistence that ' good ' does not mean ' p ' is nothing but conceptual confusion , some of today ' s definers have attempted to employ a different model of definition . rather than holding that ' good ' means
p ' , they have resorted to frege ' s sinn and bedeutung distinction . on that view , ' good ' and ' p ' do not mean the same – rather ' good ' and ' p ' have different senses but they refer to ( name , stand for ) the same property . [ 15 ]
that ' good ' is referential , is a property word , is simply assumed there as it was when the other version of definition was employed . the battery of arguments above to show that it is not the name of a property are not recognized . in consequence , the resort to the fregean model will not do to save the definist position .
moreover , because the good - making characteristics of a kind of thing are tied to the kind of thing it is , and are not a character applicable across the board which is attached to the word ' good ' , are not part of the meaning of ' good ' , there is no single mode of presentation for ' good ' , no sinn for ' good ' . hence ' good ' is a word with neither a sinn nor a bedeutung .
having now disposed of the traditional alternative to the thesis that commending is a central feature of the meaning of ' good ' , the time has come to take up the task of defending that thesis . i am simply ignoring another alternative , one that was also the off - spring of moore ' s anti - definist views , namely emotivism . the objections to that position are too powerful to take it seriously at this date .
let us return to geach ' s ' good and evil ' . the non - validity of the inference from ' she is a good player ' to ' she is good ' reminds us that what makes some kind of thing good varies radically from kind to kind and that there are no good - making characteristics that are applicable to everything that is good . geach is tempted by that fact to say that ' good ' has no meaning other than in ' a good k ' . but of course that isn ' t so . if it were , there would be no intelligibility in the fact that we use the same word ' good ' in connection with oranges , designs , helicopters and on and on . moreover , the word ' good ' would be enormously equivocal – and it is not .
geach , although tempted to talk as if ' good ' does not mean anything independently of its connection to kinds , realizes that won ' t work , no doubt for the above reasons . but if ' good ' means the same across kinds of thing , the problem of what that common meaning is rears its head . it would appear that here is where the ascriptivist idea that commending is central to the meaning of the term finds a place .
the line between semantics and pragmatics , where it is taken that a reference to deeds cannot be part of the meaning of a term , hangs on the geach - searle criticism . seeing that that criticism does not succeed means that the sharp line between meaning and what we do with words cannot be maintained . although some aspects of the use of a word may not fall into its meaning , some references to what we are doing must be located there . as wittgenstein was fond of saying in light of faust ' in the beginning was the deed ' .
2 . alexander miller , an introduction to contemporary metaethics , ( polity press , 2003 ) .
4 . h . l . a . hart , ' the ascription of responsibility and rights ' , proceedings of the aristotelian society new series , vol 49 ( 1948 - 49 ) , pp . 171 - 194 ; reprinted in anthony flew ed . , logic and language , 1st series , ( blackwell , 1951 ) .
5 . c . j . f . williams , what is truth ? , ( cambridge university press , 1976 , reprinted 2009 ) , p . 16 .
7 . ryle introduced the notion of logical geography as a replacement notion for the older idea that analysis was like chemical analysis , a breaking down of a substance into its ultimate parts . gilbert ryle , the concept of mind , ( hutchinson ' s university library , 1949 ) , p . 7 . strawson talks of connective analysis as a better way of conceiving of the activity of analysis than the old reductive version or ryle ' s logical geography or wittgenstein ' s therapeutic analogy . peter strawson , analysis and metaphysics , ( oxford university press , 1992 ) , chapter 2 .
12 . in treating intuition as a faculty , i am taking sides in a dispute concerning how to conceive of what moore meant by ' intuition ' . pursuing the dispute here would be too large a side - show .
13 . miller does not consider any other objections to giving a definition of ' good ' than the open question argument . the additional objections that i offer are not recognized and so not evaluated .
16 . robert arrington , rationalism , realism , and relativism : perspectives in contemporary moral epistemology , ( cornell university press , 1989 ) , p . 56 .
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