St Laurence investors to get one more payment from receivers

St Laurence investors to get one more payment out of receivership

By Paul McBeth

June 21 (BusinessDesk) - Some 9,400 investors owed $212 million plus interest by failed lender St Laurence will get one more payment before the receivers retire.

The receivers for the Wellington-based lender have "one more challenging asset to realise" and expect to make "a final distribution towards the end of 2012 or early 2013 once all the final aspects of the receivership are resolved," Barry Jordan and David Vance of Deloitte said in their latest report. The last loan involved a glass/metal recycling operation in New South Wales, and has led to the downgrade of overall realisations.

Investors have been paid 14 cents in the dollar in three payments, the latest being made in March this year. Once the final distribution has been made, the receivers will retire.

"The total distribution available to secured investors will almost certainly be at the lower end of the receivers' projected range of 15 cents to 22 cents," they said.

In December, former St Laurence boss Kevin Podmore was declared bankrupt after the failed lender's trustee Perpetual Trust called on a $20 million personal guarantee he made to the firm.

The receivers said the liquidator of the three companies associated with Podmore's guarantee is reviewing historical transactions for the firms. Vance and Jordan said they haven't factored in any recovery from the liquidations and guarantee.

St Laurence was put into receivership more than two years ago after Podmore ignored the trustee by putting an offer to investors to swap their debt for equity in a new company that would hold the remaining assets.

(BusinessDesk)

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