POLOKWANE – Some contractors have begun with specified urgent works on the basis and ashphalt works that need to be done urgently, before the rainy season starts, and work done already will be demolished.
The business rescue plan for construction group Basil Read, tabled on 27 September and presented by business rescue practitioners John Lightfoot and Siviwe Dongwana, was approved by 99% of the creditors and 98% of the independent creditors during a shareholders’ meeting two weeks ago.
You may also want to read: Bypass contractor in business rescue
The plan indicated the new anticipated completion date for the project to be 30 March 2019.
“The anticipated completion dates are based on best estimates provided by the company but may vary, depending on any exigencies that may arise,” reads the business rescue report.
Basil Read entered into voluntary business rescue in June and its business rescue plan was published in August. The company reported a net loss in March, after tax, of R1 billion for the year ended December 2017 as a result of a number of lossmaking legacy contracts, the write-off of goodwill in the roads division and the reversal of deferred tax assets in lossmaking entities.
At year-end, the group’s current liabilities, at R2,1 billion, exceeded current assets, at R1,4 billion, and the group’s cash had decreased to R126,4 million.
The appointed business rescue practitioners believe Basil Read’s construction division can be successfully turned around, with an improvement in cash flow anticipated by the end of a two-year period in which the company will complete 17 construction contracts. It will reportedly invest R265 million in funding it has secured to complete those contracts.
