Nortel's Carling Avenue campus

Nortel Networks' proposal to move company headquarters from Brampton to Ottawa is still on the table, as the company continues to wring out costs.

CEO Bill Owens told Wednesday's annual meeting the Brampton HQ is "too large" for current needs. The Brampton facility was once one of Nortel's key manufacturing plants, but currently houses about 1,000 management, sales and administration personnel.

Mr. Owens gave no timetable for a decision. Nortel is aiming to cut costs by 25 per cent by 2006.

The shareholders meeting, attended by about 600 people, saw Nortel executives skillfully deflect a barrage of questions from angry stockholders over the company's accounting scandal, its shrinking market share, and the sudden departures of two senior executives who left after just three months on the job.

Outgoing chairman Red Wilson told shareholders no board of directors could have foreseen the accounting scandal which has dogged the company, and he said no one in the company came forward to express their concerns about the numbers.

Mr. Owens stressed the need to continue cutting costs, saying the company is focused on "cash, costs and revenue and playing to win."

Attempts by shareholders to hold executives and directors accountable were left dangling, as all 11 proposals aimed at measures such as recovering bonuses and auditors' fees were defeated.

Nortel still faces a number of shareholder lawsuits stemming from the accounting scandal.