But the cost of this boardroom spat goes well beyond the £270,000 cost of holding the general meeting itself. Victoria has disclosed that legal and other professional costs in connection with the creation and review of a controversial management incentive scheme amounted to an eye-watering £210,000; a further £170,000 of costs have been incurred moving the company's listing to Aim; and a restructuring of the Australian business will slice £860,000 off profits. As a result, Victoria will only break even in the six months to end-September, having reported a £1.27m pre-tax profit in the same period last year.
The new management team has been voted in on a mandate to deliver accelerated shareholder returns. With Victoria's share price less than half book value, and over £1.5m costs incurred in the past six months alone, it needs to.
