Research in Motion(RIM)breathed a sigh of relief last night as it saw all of its 10 nominated directors voted to the board by investors.
The vote was not unanimous at the company's annual AGM,however,and high-profile shareholders,including former CEO Mike Lazaridis,even withheld their votes,according to Reuters.
But the conclusion left the new leader,Thorsten Heins,with a sense of some confidence from the gathered investors,who have watched the price of their shares fall 74%in just one year.
The BlackBerry manufacturer has hit the headlines over the past few months after it announced a money-saving plan to cut$1bn in costs.When it announced its first quarter results at the end of June,RIM proved it needed to save money,with revenues falling 38%from the previous quarter down to$2.8bn,and confirmed a large part of the savings would come from staff cuts of 5,000.
It also delayed the launch of its BlackBerry 10 platform from this year to the first quarter of 2013.
"This was a challenging quarter,"said Heins."I am not satisfied with the financial report we are giving you today.
"I understand this is an incredibly difficult message to deliver,but it is necessary to change scale and refocus the company on areas of highest opportunity."
Share prices fell by a further 5%,hitting$7.29,after the meeting,but attendees said the overall feeling was one of survival and looking to the future,with a modicum of optimism that things will get better.
