Hellaby seeks directors' fee hike and an Oz-savvy director

Hellaby seeks directors' fee hike and an Oz-savvy director

by Paul McBeth

Sept. 6 (BusinessDesk) – Hellaby Holdings, the diversified investment group looking for new acquisitions, will put the case to shareholders at its annual meeting for appointing a new director to help tap Australian markets.

Shareholders will vote on a $100,000 increase in the pool for directors’ fees by to $475,000 from October, though there is no intention to increase individual directors’ pay.

Hellaby wants to add another non-executive director to its board, which is six-strong including managing director John Williamson.

“The proposed increase in directors’ remuneration is principally to enable the appointment of an additional director with trans-Tasman experience to better position the company for future growth into the Australian market,” company secretary Richard Jolly said in a notice of annual meeting.

“There is no intention to increase the level of directors fees’ paid on an individual basis from the current levels at this stage.”

In the 2010 financial year, Hellaby paid three of its directors $52,500, one $62,000 and chairman John Maasland $84,000. Managing director John Williamson’s “salary and other” earnings were $560,700, plus a performance incentive of $549,229, to total $1.11 million.

Last month, Hellaby reported a 49% jump in annual earnings to $15.4 million and reiterated a desire to make new investments.

The company’s current investments include the Hannahs and Number One Shoes retail footwear chains. The shares fell 1.5% to $2.66 in trading today, and have climbed 34% this year, valuing the company at $196.7 million.

(BusinessDesk) 15:29:08

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