Rebels battle to board PMP in 2001
January 14, 2008
It was good to have some competition at PMP in 2001 as this Jane Schulze story in The Australian on November 19, 2001, explained.
A part-owner of one of magazine publisher PMP's joint ventures has nominated for a seat on the PMP board without the company's support.
PMP is actively canvassing institutions against the nomination of Ian Milnes, the chairman of and a major shareholder in Adelaide-based Cadillac Printing, which is half-owned by PMP.
Cadillac is a web-offset printing business. The other 50 per cent of the company is owned in part by Mr Milnes and PMP former chief Ken Catlow.
PMP current chief executive Bob Muscat and chief financial officer Craig Thompson sit on the Cadillac board with Mr Milnes and Mr Catlow. Mr Milnes, who is also a PMP shareholder, said in his election material that he wanted to restore PMP to profitability.
"The chief executive and board of directors must be held accountable for these disastrous results,'' he writes in a letter sent to the 20,300 shareholders. ``They appear to be oblivious to shareholders' interests.''
Last year PMP reported an after-tax loss of $500.9 million, mostly from writing down the value of its magazine titles and other businesses. Before those significant items, it reported a $26.9 million profit – down from $59.1 million the previous year.
PMP is supporting the re-election of two serving directors – Don Morris and Marcia Griffin – at next Monday's annual general meeting. The other independent candidate is Crikey.com.au publisher Stephen Mayne, who is seeking greater accountability from PMP's board.
He said he believed Mr Milnes' nomination was "the most professional corporate campaign by an outsider ever run''. He is directing support to him.
According to one institutional source, PMP needs to improve. However, there was concern that a board split could create further destabilisation.
Mr Milnes has visited institutions seeking their support.
He said that retail shareholders owned 56 per cent of PMP's shares and "the feedback that's come from the ordinary shareholders has been fantastic''.
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