Clough settles BassGas, makes board changes

Loss-making engineering company Clough Ltd has settled its long-running and costly legal dispute with Origin Energy over the BassGas oil project in Victoria.

It has also announced further changes to its board of directors, with former chairman Jock Clough and Murray & Roberts representative Norbert Jorek leaving the board.

Earlier this week, the company said it had taken provisions of $130.7 million after completing its assessment of BassGas and the disputed G1 project in India.

This resulted in the company reporting an after-tax loss of $105.3 million.

However Clough has not specified how much of the provisions related to BassGas.

The terms of the BassGas settlement were not disclosed. The company simply stated that "it has reached an amicable full and final settlement with BassGas Joint Venture in relation to the BassGas contract".

Regarding the board changes, Clough said its new chief executive John Smith has been appointed to the board and Murray & Roberts executive Roger Rees has rejoined the board.

The departure of Jock Clough means that his father, Harold Clough, is the only remaining Clough family representative on the company's board.