Boral shareholders focus on options, not profit outlook

While Mr Pearse told the Boral annual meeting that the company would ``comfortably exceed" its 2001-02 underlying profit result of $192.4 million in the coming year, attention soon shifted away from the overall performance of the company and towards Mr Pearse himself.

The resolution to grant Mr Pearse a new option package was passed, but only after Boral's chairman, Ken Moss, responded to a barrage of protests from some shareholders who said the package was excessive.

The package is worth up to $2.03 million on the proviso the company reaches the top 25 of the ASX 100 for total shareholder returns over the next three years.

Giles Edwards from the Australian Shareholders Association said half the 700,000 options would be exerciseable if Boral just ``maintained an average tracking of the average group" of the ASX 100.

Over 2001-02, Mr Pearse's total remuneration package totalled $2.8 million, of which $405,300 was in options.

Mr Edwards said the company's recent performance had benefited from the surge in housing demand, over which neither Mr Pearse nor anyone else had any control.

While other resolutions received more than 96 per cent approval from the proxy votes, support for Mr Pearse's package ran at 78.55 per cent signalling anxiety not just among shareholders but some fund managers, too.

One fund openly opposed to the resolution was the construction industry super fund CBus.

Boral's board also came under fire for blocking a motion that the company establish an independent panel to scrutinise its environmental practices, particularly in its timber division.

Don White, of the Boral Green Shareholders group, said the fact that the company rejected the motion on technical grounds reflected its lack of progressiveness in lifting its environmental practices.

Dr Moss said Boral received legal advice that the proposed resolution was technically invalid.

He added that Boral's present board was capable of assessing the company's environmental performance.

While more than 25 members of the NSW Transport Workers Union waved banners outside, Dr Moss also fielded more than half an hour of questions from Boral share-holding TWU members who said the company's aggressive cost-cutting regime, which saved $121 million over 2001-02, had unfairly hurt subcontractor drivers.