Nice article. Shows how taxpayer dollars are well spent, lol. Maybe the free lunch is almost over.
Van Sun says taxpayers support Lignol execs' lavish pay
2012-05-16 09:05 ET - In the News
The Vancouver Sun reports in its Wednesday edition seven-cent Lignol Energy cannot seem to make money. The Sun's David Baines writes Lignol is developing a process to convert wood into ethanol. Since it went public on the TSX Venture Exchange in 2006, the company has been a perennial money-loser. During the nine months ending Jan. 31, it generated zero revenues and lost $1.2-million, raising cumulative losses to $28.4-million. It is not just shareholders who are sucking air on this one, it is the taxpayers, too. Chief executive officer Ross MacLachlan in December, 2009, said Lignol received about $16-million from various taxpayer-funded agencies and ministries. By January this year, that figure had increased to just under $27-million. In February, the company was awarded another $2.2-million. Government funding also frees up cash for executive compensation. During the year ended April 30, 2011, Mr. MacLachlan earned $297,000 in total compensation; chief financial officer David Turner, $209,416; chief operating officer Michael Rushton, $210,016; chief technology officer Colin Smith, $278,131; and chief scientific officer Dr. Kendall Pye, $148,101. That is a lot of overhead for a struggling company, says Mr. Baines.