By James Wells
SYDNEY: Retravision New South Wales today appointed Paul Billingham and Trevor Pagroske – partners of Grant Thornton as voluntary administrators and as a result the Westpac bank has appointed Peter Yates and David Lombe of Deloitte as receivers to the business.
Retravision Australia CEO Keith Perkin told Current.com.au this afternoon that it is too early to say what this might mean for the business, but he has confirmed that it will not impact on the remainder of Retravision as each state company stands in its own right.
"The board has taken the decision that they need to restructure the business. They are working with the appointees to see how that unfolds," Perkin said.
"It is not the end of the world and the key issue here is that it is New South Wales and does not impact on the remainder of Retravision."
"The business is in the hands of the administrator and the receiver and they now must undertake their process and sort through the paperwork."
According a report published this afternoon by AAP, there is approximately 30 creditors to the group.
"The problems for Retravision (NSW) are due to the collapse of two member stores, resultig in the directors writing off debts of $17 million and increasing the doubtful provisions to $7.6 million in the accounts for the year ending 30 June 2006," Yates told AAP.
In the report, Yates said the full financial position of the group is yet to be assessed and estimated the company’s turnover at $300 million with 35 employees.
A statement issued by Retravision NSW CEO, Ian Goldmann, later this afternoon confirmed the appointment of voluntary administrators.
“Whilst it is too early to tell what the trading implications are for Retravision stores in NSW, we are confident that the majority of stores will enjoy a successful trading season this Christmas,” Goldmann said.
“We are bunkered down with Mr Billingham and his team to devise a ‘workout’ solution that is in the best interests of store owner, suppliers and customers.”
In the statement Perkin stressed that Retravision stores in other states are not affected and over 78 per cent of stores in NSW are in a strong financial position.