Quiet meeting offers O'Reilly chance to rebuff criticisms

Four years ago 4,000 angry Eircom shareholders turned up at a fractious Eircom annual general meeting at the RDS. Yesterday a handful of shareholders and a few dozen advisers showed up for its first annual general meeting since re-listing.

The surroundings of the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links Hotel in north County Dublin were a good deal more tranquil - and there were big savings on the shareholder entertainment bill.

However, the company clearly still feels somewhat beleaguered, arguing that it suffers undue flak, partly as a legacy of the losses suffered by most of the 450,000 small shareholders who invested in the first flotation.

The company "is at times quite unfairly and deliberately over-criticised," according to its chairman.

Sir Anthony put the case in an unusual and trenchant 35 minute address to the a.g.m. Others have argued that the Eircom float and the subsequent collapse in the share price is a serious block to future privatisations.

However, Sir Anthony argued that, in time, the Eircom privatisation would be seen as "a pioneer in the context of Ireland's new economy".

The goals of the privatisation as set out by the Government had been met, he claimed, with the company accessing international equity, competition emerging in the market, the maximising return to the Exchequer and promoting wide share ownership.

The board and management at the time did its best for shareholders and "courageously managed the decline in the face of great public unpopularity", he argued.

The return of 78 per cent on their original investment meant "the shareholders in the first IPO actually outperformed the markets" which collapsed as the dotcom bubble burst.

The company disputes the view that large dividends now being paid out are limiting investment in infrastructure, which Sir Anthony argues remains at or above the EU average.

The chairman also wanted to "nail a particular lie used by some journalists that the slow investment in broadband inhibited foreign investment in Ireland". High inward investment proves this is not the case, he argued.

Sir Anthony also hit out at "the overall inadequate return on capital allowed by the regulator", the "over-regulation of Eircom's retailing activity" and the fact that it cannot access competitors' networks at a reasonable cost.

This is a key issue as the company looks to boost profits and enter the mobile market. Public criticism is one thing, but regulation affects the bottom line.