cop that!:$58m loss, but doctor pay up by 29%

Forget the GFC or the normal cost control response to hard times. This is Vision Group remember!

Michael Lawless, a key doctor partner director from the NSW division on the VGH Board, received a pay increase of 29%, or $647,000 in the 2010 financial year, up $145,000 on 2009, despite:
1. The 2009 Remuneration Report being rejected by more than 40% of shareholders.
2. A whopping $58,000,000 loss for the 2010 financial year.
3. Lower (yes lower) revenue from the NSW division of 1.6%.
4. Write-off of goodwill attributable to the NSW division of $29,000,000 in 2010.
5. An alert by the auditor in the 2010 Annual Report there is a Significant Uncertainty whether the company will continue as a going concern.
6. Breach of bank covenants at 30 June 2010.
7. No new doctors joining in 2010.
8. Cut of dividends paid to shareholders to nil from 13 cents per year in 2008.

Lawless wasn't the only one getting his hands on cash in preference to shareholders. Craig Stamp (the talented ex CEO guy that was removed errr..., resigned as CEO on May 4 2010) received $888,943! It appears Credit Suisse is up for around $1.6 million (note 21) in trying to sell the company (without shareholder consultation and approval) and the banks haven't been left dry; they've jabbed $1.8 million for rolling over the debt in August 2009 even though they want a capital raising to pay it down in any event.

It is great to have a Board dominated by non-independent directors. You can essentially set your own pay!

The $66m goodwill write-off reflects sales of overpriced ophthalmology practices to public VGH shareholders now deemed worthless given doctor pay to the same vendors will double by 2013 (the company floated for $2.30 per share in 2004). This is likely to include doctor vendors who had agreed in 2009 to rollover their contracts, presumably at lower amounts - was Lawless one of them? Any Board member scalps here?

What happened to several key 8 priority initiatives (ASX announcement 25 June 2010) the new CEO Geoff Thompson was meant to have achieved in his first 100 days and reported progress on to shareholders? Surely some shareholder value-adding beauties like #8: Improve lines of communication, or #7: refine and implement integrated doctor recruitment processes, or #6 Develop Doctor partner special interest groups...to better focus.. marketing, information sharing and performance improvement, have added real shareholder value during this time? Just more garbage. The only tangible things he achieved in 100 days was to raise doctor pay by 100% and put the business up for sale. Great work Geoff.

Can someone tell CEO Geoff Thompson to get on plane and go over to the UK and Ireland to recruit more sub specialist doctors, rather than sit around Sydney trying to sell the business for peanuts?

Cop that!