Returning Plus SMS shares clears slate

Plus SMS founder Garry Donoghue says he resigned from the company and handed back more than $10 million of shares last week not because he was forced to but because it was the "right thing to do".

"It was not a matter of having to at all," Donoghue said yesterday. "There were no claims made against me by the company."

Plus SMS said on Friday that Donoghue would resign as a director and executive and hand back all his shares for no payment - 85 million shares worth $13.6 million as of close of trading on Friday - and that this would "resolve all issues between Mr Donoghue and the company".

"It just seemed to be the way to go forward was to try [to] let Chris [Tiensch, chief executive] go forward and run it," Donoghue said. "I didn't create the value that we felt we were going to create in the business so it seemed to be the right thing to do."

Asked if handing back shares worth $13.6 million was unusual in circumstances of failing to meet targets Donoghue replied: "Well, I guess different people have different ideas and attitudes on things".

Donoghue and chairman Jim Bracknell resigned the day Plus SMS admitted statements previously issued to the market were wrong.

The admissions wiped 53 per cent off the share price on Friday, reducing a market capitalisation which had been more than $277 million last November to just $55 million.

Shares closed down another 4c yesterday at 12c.

The misleading statements included owning thousands of vanity short codes to send text messages to - such as brand names - when it had access to only just over 100 such codes.

The company, which plans to enable global text message campaigns using single codes, said there was no prospect of revenue this year.

The whole matter came as a shock to investors.

PLUS SMS HOLDINGS

* July 2005: Back door listing using RetailX.

* Nov 2005: Share price hits 82c.

* Sept 2006: Company admits incorrect statements, share price plummets to 12c.