The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Lloyds set to suffer PressureFab loss
Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance is unlikely to recover the majority of the £427,000 it lent to collapsed Dundee offshore engineering firm PressureFab, according to the adminisrators.
PressureFab and other firms led by German entrepreneur Hermann Twickler went into administration in July last year with 42 employees losing their jobs.
Administrators Gerard Friar and Blair Nimmo of KPMG initially encountered difficulty in obtaining a list of assets and liabilities from Mr Twickler.
Their latest report filed at Companies House shows some progress.
It said that PressureFab, Mr Twickler’s offshore container manufacturing company that was his main operating venture, went into administration owing £427,000 to Lloyds Banking Group’s invoice finance arm.
Lloyds Bank Commercial Finance (LBCF) had trade debtor invoices totalling £327,000 assigned to it.
The administrators stated: “It is expected that LBCF will not recover its debt from the assigned book debts.
“We do not expect that LBCF will receive a recovery from either of the companies which have provided a cross guarantee. Interests and costs continue to accrue against LBCF’s debt.”
The bank had no debt due directly by the company but the company was one of six entities which guaranteed the bank debt due by parent company Twickler Estates.
The value of the bank’s claim against the company will depend on the level of recovery it makes in the administration of Twickler Estates.
The administrators expected LBCF will receive a small distribution under its debenture, but they did not expect a distribution under its floating charge.
The administrators continued: “LBCF are continuing to pursue the outstanding balances on the ledger, with our assistance where appropriate.
“We do not anticipate that LBCF will recover their indebtedness in full and, as such, there will be no surplus available from the secured debtor balances for other creditors.
Mr Twickler blamed the demise of his business empire on the oil and gas industry downturn.