Renowned British construction firm, Interserve, has reportedly recorded a loss of over £300 million from the energy-from-waste disaster. The company’s construction business in the UK also racked up more than £100 million in losses back in 2019 after running into issues on London contracts.
The 2019 report, which was filed at the Companies House, represents the first set of accounts disclosed by the company since it went into the pre-pack in March 2019 and delisted from the Stock Exchange. The firm later revived as the Interserve Group as part of a debt-for-equity agreement with its lenders.
According to Interserve Chairman, Alan Lovell, the company was ready to authorize more disposals, which could comprise construction businesses and the Kwikform, after the company sold its £1.4 billion turnover support services enterprise to Mitie in November 2020 for a sum of £205 million.
Lovell further stated that where there are opportunities for the realization of shareholder value by additional divestment, and where this makes sense for the enterprise, the company will continue with the exploration of these alternatives.
As per sources, the energy-from-waste debacle saw the company rack up another £73 million in losses from its work at schemes in Derby and Glasgow, which involved writing off its £17.6 million investment in the PFI joint venture developing Resource Recovery Solutions, the company’s Derby plant.
The firm had reportedly lost a further £29 million after a performance bond on the same scheme was called in by Derbyshire county council and the client Derby city council.
Interserve stated that the cost of leaving the London construction market hit £19 million, on top of the £25 million that the company had shelled out in 2020. Other losses comprised the £4.3 million cost of shutting its consulting and joinery services businesses. The company stated that numerous UK construction contracts racked up a further sum of £4.4 million in losses.
Source credit: https://www.building.co.uk/news/losses-from-interserves-energy-from-waste-disaster-top-300m/5110789.article