15 Results

Leighton Holdings’ shareholders were only interested in one thing at Friday’s AGM. If losing one chief executive is a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness — and had they been paid the money?

The big banks used to be the masters of cynical pre-Christmas AGM scheduling, but this year, agri-business competitors AWB and Incitec Pivot have stolen the prize — both planning their AGMs for 2pm on 23 December.

While the whole experience was very frustrating for shareholders who wanted to hold the board to account, the AGM was a PR success for Telstra, with minimum scrutiny of the board’s performance.

Our national opera company continues to behave like a naughty adolescent instead of a mature adult of 50.

The Collingwood Football Club AGM at the MCG tonight should be an absolute belter, writes Stephen Mayne.

The highlights and lowlights of this morning’s sharemarket activity.

Has Fairfax made a monumental ballsup with its takeover of the Southern Cross Radio Network ? There’s a massive dispute underway over just who owns the $35 million 2UE building in North Sydney. Macquarie Radio, which owned Southern Cross for just two days before on-selling to Fairfax, says it gets to keep the 2UE headquarters. […]

These are very interesting media times in Western Australia. The Seven Network, controlled jointly by KKR and Kerry Stokes, has this week lifted its stake in West Australian Newspapers to almost 20% after seemingly being rebuffed by the board in its request for two board seats, writes Stephen Mayne.

Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest may be the controlling shareholder in a $15 billion company, but he still runs emerging iron ore company Fortescue Metals likes it is some two bob speculative mining stock, writes Stephen Mayne.

Rupert Murdoch may have given Australian politics a wide berth at the News Corp AGM in New York last week, but the Sun King will have ample opportunity to try and influence the result when he comes Down Under in two weeks time, writes Stephen Mayne.

It’s now less than 12 hours before proceedings kick off at the News Corp AGM and it seems Rupert’s security people are paranoid the world over, writes Stephen Mayne.

Dick Pratt, the federal election, AGM season, taking on Rupert Murdoch in New York. Talk about bedlam. Sitting here at the Qantas Club in Melbourne Airport, it’s nice to finally draw breath ahead of the News Corp AGM on Friday, writes Stephen Mayne.

Despite being a serial board candidate, there hasn’t been a tilt yet in 2007 – but that all changed this week when West Australian Newspapers company secretary Bernard Yates confirmed my nomination to run for the board had been accepted.

The requirement that 100 signatures are necessary to produce a shareholder resolution in Australia has long been a ridiculous barrier to a proper culture of shareholder pressure. There literally hasn’t been a shareholder resolution at an Australian AGM for three years.