RUPERT Lowe made a quiet return to St Mary's today.

The former Saints chairman was among several hundred Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC shareholders who attended the annual meeting in the Mick Channon Suite at lunchtime.

It was the first time Lowe had been in the same room as Michael Wilde, the man who led the campaign to oust him, since negotiations between the two men broke down last May.

Lowe was accompanied by his former joint managing director Andrew Cowen and Mike Richards, who also resigned as a PLC board member on the same day Lowe did on June 30.

But while Richards and Cowen both took their chance to quiz Wilde and his new PLC board on financial matters, Lowe failed to utter a single word of the hour and three quarters long meeting.

There were no highly controversial moments and all six PLC directors up for re-election - Wilde, Ken Dulieu, Leon Crouch, Jim Hone, Lee Hoos and Patrick Trant - were all unanimously voted back in.

After Delieu, the non executive PLC board chairman had opened the meeting by introducing all 12 members of the top table, Wilde read from a prepared statement.

During his five minute talk, the football club board chairman and SLH's majority shareholder talked about his continuing search for new investment.

As he had told the Daily Echo last week, Wilde said negotiations were ongoing and that he could not divulge the names of parties potentially interested in investing.

"My main aim is the long term refinancing of the club," he re-affirmed.

Wilde admitted that Saints' failure to win promotion this season would result in a "substantial" reduction in income for next season - the club would no longer qualify for a £6.5m parachute payment.

"It would be prudent to plan accordingly," he said.

Wilde also revealed he would be prepared to stand down if a major financial investor was found.

"This was always going to be a step by step situation," he added.

"The first step was to bring in new club management and a new approach and we have done that.

"The next step is to help secure the club's long term financial future.

"I would ask shareholders and supporters to be patient.

"Five months is a short time to try and attract the levels of investment we are seeking."

At the meeting it was confirmed that director Paul Thompson was standing down, and that another PLC board director, Brian Hunt, was retiring as of June 30, 2007.

A former Saints professional player, Hunt has been involved with the club for over 40 years. He has been a director of the club since the late 1980s.

For a full report of the AGM, don't miss tomorrow's Daily Echo. Also, log onto www.dailyecho.co.uk tomorrow morning to find out what questions were asked at the AGM - and what answers were given.