NO-HEADLINE

Voting forms being sorted at an emergency general meeting of Queens Moat Houses, the debt- laden hotels group, yesterday. Shareholders overwhelmingly supported a capital reconstruction, writes Nigel Cope.

Pending a court hearing to sanction the scheme, the company will rejoin the stock market on 18 May, more than two years after its shares were suspended. Chief executive Andrew Coppel said: "There can be no guarantees that the company will survive, but it is viable."

A disgruntled action group of shareholders criticised the package and the £49m in professional fees it has cost to assemble.

Michael Harkavy, the action group's legal adviser said: "There are still many things that could bring this company down."

At a relatively subdued meeting in London, Queens Moat chairman Stanley Metcalfe warned that without the refinancing the company was likely to cease trading. Queens Moat's liabilities exceed its assets by £448m at present.

Under the terms of the re-structuring, around £200m of debt will be converted into equity and a further £60m interest waived. Preference shares will be converted into ordinary shares, with shareholders retaining 40 per cent of the enlarged ordinary share capital. Mr Metcalfe said Queens Moatwould be left with sufficient resources to take on competitors.

The action group criticised bonuses paid to executive directors. The refinancing would leave the total remuneration of the three, including Mr Coppel, unchanged at £1.6m this year.