Ebert creditors struggle with loss

Creditors of failed construction company Ebert Construction say they’ll survive, despite some of them carrying heavy losses as a result of the collapse.

Two months after Ebert’s receivership, the receivers at PwC have estimated that the company owes about $45 million, $33.8m of which is to unsecured creditors.

That figure that could rise as those whose projects came to a halt add their claims.

On Wednesday night the company’s shareholders asked for a liquidator to be appointed. Liquidator David Ruscoe of Grant Thornton said the shareholders felt it was ‘‘the right thing to do’’.

Some creditors would not want to discuss their losses from the Ebert collapse for fear of spooking their own clients, Graham Burke of the Specialist Trade Contractors Federation said.

Murray Clarke, director of Glass Projects, an Auckland glass supplier, said he was not owed a substantial sum.

But as Ebert was the first test of a new retention law, he hoped the receivers would do a good job.

Retentions – a portion of a subcontractor’s payment held back in case problems occur later – must now be held in a separate fund.

‘‘The retention legislation in March last year was very clear that you had to hold your full retention exposure as cash,’’ Clarke said.

‘‘I think if the receivers don’t get it right, they’re going to set a whole precedent here.’’

Another creditor, Richard Spokes of Glasscorp, said he was also not owed a lot, but he felt people didn’t fully appreciate the difficulty of running a business in such an uncertain climate.

One crane operator still has a crane immobilised on an Ebert site, which is costing the company $70,000 a month. However, the company said it expected to survive, thanks to bank support.

Ebert owes about $9.3m in retention money to subcontractors but only $3.6m in retentions was being held separately when it collapsed.