ANALYSTS asking when about Westfield’s new Milan development might have been looking for a construction update, but co-heads the Lowy brothers seemed keener on soccer fixtures. Asked by Simon Garing of Merrill Lynch for a ”kick-off date” for Milan, Steven Lowy said: ”Are you talking about the score today? They are playing Barcelona next week.”

The remuneration report for the 2012 year, issued on Wednesday, shows some of Westfield’s executives are on pay resembling that of a handy player for a European soccer team. Sydney-based youngest brother Steven was paid $10.94 million, including a $4 million bonus, up from $8.9 million the previous year.

That’s significantly better than Australia’s highest-paid round-baller, Sydney FC import Alessandro Del Piero, who reportedly signed on for $2 million.

Steven’s brother Peter is based in LA, where David Beckham was on a base salary of $US6.5 million until he quit the Galaxy last year. Peter bent it better than Beckham, scoring $US10.5 million, including a bonus of $US3.36 million, up from $US8.2 million the previous year.

Westfield finance director Peter Allen, whose name was touted last year as a possible candidate for the CEO job at Stockland, was paid $6.22 million, up from $5.8 million.

Patriarch and non-executive chairman Frank Lowy was paid a positively un-world game $750,000, up from $451,236. None of them came close to matching the deal enjoyed by a man Milan’s players face next week, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, who is on €16 million (about $20 million) a year.

Fashionable listing

CAN you make a dress out of hundred dollar bills? Fashionista Lisa Ho might need to work out the answer to that question if her company Lisa Ho Designs prospers following its listing on the not particularly glam secondary exchange, the NSX.

Ho is seeking up to $1.7 million from punters who want a slice of what the prospectus calls ”one of the most respected and iconic labels in Australia”.

The prospectus shows she is to be paid an entirely reasonable $109,000 (plus travel, hotels and expenses) a year as ”creative and group business leader”. Not even enough to keep one in Hermes handbags. However, she also gets a bonus of 2 per cent of gross annual sales and, after three years, 3 per cent of gross annual income (for the right to use the Lisa Ho name).

The business had a rotten 2012 – apparently ”a result of one-off business issues” including overstocking of garments ”that Lisa would not have selected” – making a loss of $2.36 million.

If in a few years the business were to bounce back to the healthier 2010 levels, CBD’s calculations show Ho would collect $713,635. That’s about 2½ times the profit declared in that year of $276,000. Oh, and following the float, Ho will hold at least 72 per cent of the shares.

No Midas touch

IF YOU hit gold, the last thing you’d expect is for your share price to halve. But that’s what happened to Inca Minerals on Wednesday, possibly courtesy of a disgruntled former director.

Before the market opened Inca announced that in a ”major breakthrough” it had found gold, silver, copper and molybdenum at its Chanape Project in Peru.

Managing director Ross Brown told CBD the company found ”bonanza” grades of gold and silver close to the surface and he was ”ecstatic” about the find.

But shares in the company plunged in heavy trade, falling from 10.5¢ to close at 5.1¢. CBD hears that much of the selling came through Bell Potter from former director Sue Thomas, who appears to have rid herself of most of her 26 million-odd shares. She quit the board of the company earlier this month after the rest of the board refused to let her load up on shares at a steep discount to the market price.

”I haven’t heard that [Thomas was selling],” Brown said. ”I think the market’s reacted negatively to the extent of the grade, but the market sometimes gets ahead of itself.”

Meanwhile, over at Western Mining Network, executive chairman Christopher Clower pursued the opposite strategy, exercising his option to buy half a million shares in the company at 30¢ – 6¢ more than the stock was fetching on Wednesday.

You’re fired. I quit

NEWS of bizarre goings-on at a Tuesday afternoon meeting of shareholders in Boris Ganke‘s Southern Cross Exploration has clawed its way to the outside world.

Shareholders rebelling against Boris wanted to kick his son Eugene Ganke and long-time associate Evelyn Goh off the board and replace them with Bruce Burrell and Alex Keach.

But before the meeting Eugene and Evelyn resigned and were replaced by Steven Baghdadi and Antonio Vieira. Bruce and Alex then found themselves appointed to the board, but no nearer loosening Boris’ grip on the company.