New Zealand’s largest listed companies are navigating their sharpest test in years. Since the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, diesel prices have risen 97% in New Zealand. With up to 95% of farming equipment and 93% of freight relying on diesel, the shock is not contained to any one sector — it runs straight through the economy.
The Boardroom Table, Datamine’s monthly director performance index, tracks how governance decisions play out across financial metrics, media perception, and customer and employee sentiment. The April 2026 results, based on data gathered to 31 March, reflect an early but clear divergence in how directors are responding.
Mainfreight moved with speed and transparency. Managing Director Don Braid notified customers of price adjustments the same weekend the crisis escalated, publicly acknowledged supply chain stress by mid-March, and on 30 March published a detailed market update outlining a dual-source fuel strategy using BP and Shell, alongside concrete cost mitigation options for customers including order consolidation, minimum order adjustments, and a shift toward rail and coastal shipping. This is a leadership team that had stress-tested its assumptions — and was willing to share its working.
Freightways took a markedly different position. CEO Mark Troughear confirmed Fuel Adjustment Factors were in place across all businesses — a defensible cost-recovery mechanism — but publicly characterised broader market concern as “hysteria” and anchored reassurance to the 2022 Ukraine war diesel peak at $3/ltr as a reference point. Referencing a previous crisis ceiling as comfort carries real risk when the underlying dynamics differ structurally from 2022.
The distinction is not whether either company will recover their costs. It is how leadership chooses to communicate under pressure. Mainfreight brought its customers with it; Freightways chose to project steadiness. If disruption deepens, that perception gap will be difficult to close retroactively.
Pip Greenwood, who sits on the boards of both A2 Milk and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, has led The Boardroom Table’s rankings since the platform launched in October 2025. Both companies navigated the Covid era not through situational tailwinds but through durable governance — and both continue to benchmark strongly against their peers as new pressures emerge.
Kate Parsons, a Mainfreight board director since January 2017, enters the rankings for the first time this month. Her tenure has coincided with a 174% increase in Mainfreight’s share price. The board’s visible and proactive response to the fuel crisis reflects the kind of governance The Boardroom Table is designed to measure: not just financial returns, but how directors behave when conditions are hardest.
It’s in times of crisis that leaders are truly tested. If you’re looking to ride out the economic storm with confidence, it’s time to go beyond fuel prices and embed operating resilience throughout your organisation. Here’s how.
The Boardroom Table is a first-of-its-kind service that sets a new benchmark for good governance in New Zealand's publicly listed boardrooms. With data from over 200 sources, including financial metrics, media perception, and customer and employee sentiment, The Boardroom Table measures the relative impact a director has made to their company during their tenure.
Eligible directors must hold either two or more current public New Zealand company directorships, or at least one current and one recent past directorship within the last 12 months. More information can be found at datamine.com/theboardroomtable.
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