Recall no sinking ship, says Brambles chief Brambles chairman Graham Kraehe insists the company's document-storage division Recall is "anything but a sinking ship," emphasising that it will be a "growth business" once it is spun off this year. Shareholders will find out this week the likely quantum of the dividends to be paid by Recall when a scheme booklet outlining its long-term plans and risks is mailed out. Brambles today told shareholders it intended to retain its own annual dividend at least at 27¢ a share, the total it paid last financial year, after it demerges Recall. But the board came under fire from the Australian Shareholders' Association for the millions of dollars it had spent trying to sell Recall, only to abort the sales process last year. After failing to gain the price it wanted from trade buyers of up to $2 billion, Brambles decided in July to spin off Recall as a separately listed company. "Our shareholders have been cast adrift on a sinking ship," said a spokeswoman for the shareholders' association, who pointed to Recall's slump in profit last financial year. But Mr Kraehe said Recall simply did not fit with Brambles' core business, and the best way to separate the document storage division was to spin it off rather than sell it outright. "Recall is anything but a sinking ship," he said. Mr Kraehe said most of Recall's business was very stable and promised annual growth in revenues and profits of 5 per cent. He said only a small part of Recall's business was subject to high volatility because of paper prices. It will be a growth business. We have been very conscious as a board . . . to make sure we don't put excessive debt into Recall," he told the annual meeting in Sydney. Shareholders will vote on the demerger on December 3. Recall is expected to emerge with a market value of $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion, making it one of the top 150 companies on the bourse. Earlier in his opening address, Mr Kraehe said demergers had a "record for creating value for shareholders." The demerger will allow Brambles to focus on its core business of providing wooden pallets, crates and containers to suppliers around the world. Last week Brambles reiterated its full-year forecast for an underlying profit of $US930 million to $US965 million, which represents a rise of 4 to 8 per cent on 2012-13.