Departing GPT chairman Peter Joseph apologised to shareholders for the property trust's poor performance after being grilled for more than three hours at the company's annual general meeting in Sydney yesterday.

Many of the 55,000 investors who had seen their 'wealth absolutely shredded' over the years were angry with the decision to invest in a disastrous joint venture with Babcock & Brown in Europe.

GPT's share price had plunged from a high of $4.14 per security in December 2006, when it was capitalised at $11.43bn, to just 49c yesterday with market capitation below $3bn.

'With the wisdom of hindsight, it is now clear that the Babcock & Brown joint venture has become the wrong deal for these times,' Joseph said.

The Australian