from The Australian, today at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/index.asp?URL=/finance/4169525.htm Dock strike unloads Lang profit By JOHN MACLEAY 9dec98 THE listed parent of Chris Corrigan's Patrick Stevedores, Lang Corp, reported yesterday that this year's waterfront dispute had cost the company $73.3 million and pushed it into a $63.55 million net annual loss. Lang Corp reported a $5.97 million pre-tax loss for the year to September 30 but was then slugged $58.6 million in pre-tax abnormal charges relating to the dispute. This compares with a net profit of $643,000 in the previous corresponding 12-month period. The waterfront confrontation with the Maritime Union of Australia cost Lang Corp a total of $68.37 million with another $5 million charge for a settlement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. But this amount was partly offset by a $14.7 million gain in write-backing provisions for employee entitlements. Since the dispute the company has shed about 50 per cent of its former 1500-strong workforce as part of its negotiations for a new enterprise agreement with the MUA. The costs of the dispute included its unsuccessful attempts to train non-union members in Dubai and paying the National Farmers Federation to train a workforce that was hardly used as well as loss of business to rival stevedores. Lang Corp closed yesterday at $3.50, near a record high. The gain in the company's share price over the past seven months since the MUA dispute has also boosted the personal wealth of the managing director, Mr Corrigan, by about $8 million on his holding of about 3.8 million shares. Mr Corrigan was issued with 1 million options on July 23 this year, after MUA members voted to accept changed work practices. The options are exercisable at $2.05 and expire in July 2003. The company said yesterday that the dramatic changes in work practices at its Patrick Facilities were expected to significantly improve the return on its capital invested. "Subject to prevailing conditions, the company expects to recoup last year's abnormal losses in less than two years," it said. Market analysts have estimated that the possible gains for Patrick's workplace changes could be as much as $40 million a year. end ============== Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List As vilified, slandered and attacked by One Nation mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
