Gerry tops Boardroom Table as Infratil and Meridian chairs rise

Alison Gerry CFInstD has reached number one in Datamine’s latest Boardroom Table rankings, ending Pip Greenwood CMInstD’s long run at number one.

Drawing on data from more than 200 publicly available sources, The Boardroom Table measures the relative impact individual directors have on company performance and sentiment over time.  

Gerry, chair of Infratil and a director of Air New Zealand, rose seven places from eighth to first. Mark Verbiest CFInstD, chair of Meridian Energy and Summerset, climbed four places from sixth to second.

Greenwood, chair of The a2 Milk Company and a non-executive director of Fisher & Paykel Healthcare until September 2025, had held the number one ranking since The Boardroom Table first published its NZX board director benchmark.

Datamine said New Zealand’s renewable technology and energy advantage is becoming more visible in board performance measures, particularly where clean energy supports data infrastructure, sustainability recognition and investor interest. 

Infratil lifted by CDC contract

Infratil’s rise followed a major month for CDC Data Centres, which is 49.7 per cent owned by Infratil.

In May, CDC announced it had secured the largest data centre contract in Australia’s history, a 555 megawatts (MW) deal that takes its total contracted capacity to more than one gigawatt. The 30-year contract is with a United States hyperscaler customer.

Infratil’s share price rose more than 13 per cent on the NZX, adding about $1.7 billion to its market capitalisation in one session.

Its full-year result also showed growth. Proportionate operational EBITDAF rose 11 per cent to $989 million, total asset value rose 13 per cent to $20.6 billion and FY27 guidance was set at $1.3 billion-$1.4 billion.

Infratil CEO Jason Boyes said: “Demand for efficient AI infrastructure is striking and may be the investment opportunity of a lifetime.”

Datamine said renewable energy is part of Infratil’s data infrastructure story. Infratil has pointed to Australasia’s access to renewable energy as a key reason global computing capacity can be attracted at scale. 

Meridian gains S&P sustainability listing

Meridian’s rise followed stronger operating numbers and international sustainability recognition.

The company’s May operating report showed year-to-date inflows at 121 per cent of historical average, the eighth highest on record. Retail sales volumes in April were 8.2 per cent higher than the prior year. Residential volumes were up 25 per cent and large business volumes were up 11.4 per cent.

In May, Meridian became the only New Zealand company included in S&P’s Dow Jones Best‑in‑Class World Index, ranking in the top 10% of utilities globally. 
In the same month, Meridian secured resource consent for the Bunnythorpe Solar Farm in the Manawatū. The site is expected to host the company’s second battery energy storage system.

The May 2026 full rankings are published at theboardroomtable.com from Friday 12 June.