Penrice directors survive spill vote
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SYDNEY, Jan 25 AAP
January 25 2013, 1:14PM
The directors of chemicals maker Penrice Soda have survived a two strikes board spill vote with strong support for them to remain.
At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in Adelaide on Friday, Penrice chairman David Trebeck received 77.8 per cent support and deputy chairman Andrew Fletcher had 78.44 per cent of shares voted in his favour.
Three challengers proposed by dissident shareholder London City Equities (LCE) were comprehensively defeated, with each receiving about 25 per cent support.
Penrice Soda is the first company to fall foul of Australia's new "two strikes" rule under which a board must be spilled and face re-election if more than 25 per cent of shareholders reject the company's remuneration report two years in a row.
The Adelaide-based chemicals maker recently announced it would cease production of soda ash - an ingredient in glass bottles and washing detergent - and instead import it in a bid to slash costs.
Penrice has suffered mounting losses and a plummeting share price in recent years, leading to agitation from five per cent stakeholder LCE for board renewal.
