Liquidator nominated to wind up Precision Electric Ireland

Engineering services company owes €3m to 145 creditors

Precision Electric Ireland has scheduled a meeting of creditors with the aim of appointing a liquidator. A company source said that the company could no longer meet its financial obligations and that there was more money owed than would have come in.

The company source and the nominated liquidator confirmed that in the region of €3 million is owed to the company's creditors. A list obtained by The Irish Times shows that the company had 145 creditors as of April 24th.

The company directors have nominated James Butler of GBW accountants as liquidator. His appointment is however open to challenge at the creditors’ meeting. Asked about the possibility of examinership, Mr Butler said that the firm wouldn’t have been able to demonstrate that it could continue to trade into the next 12 months.

Unfinished projects

“The company isn’t hopelessly insolvent,” Mr Butler added. He said that it has a number of unfinished projects which, if allowed to be finished, could go towards the pot for creditors.

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The most recent accounts filed with the Companies Office, for the period to the end of July 2015, show pretax profits of €127,840, down 14 per cent on the previous year. In those accounts the directors confirmed that they had reasonable expectation that the company had adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future.

As of July 31st, 2015, the company employed 45 people with a salary cost of over €2.4 million. All current employees with the company are understood to have lost their jobs. Directors’ remuneration for the same financial year was €246,721.

Overdraft figure

Money owed to creditors in the 12 months to the end of July 2015 was over €1.9 million, which included a bank overdraft of €98,071. But that figure was down from €4.6 million the previous year. It is understood that the bank overdraft figure hasn’t changed significantly.

According to the company’s website it has been involved in some of the largest construction projects in Ireland including the Intel facility in Leixlip, the Eircom data centre in Blanchardstown and St Vincent’s hospital.

The engineering services company was incorporated in 1968.

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in business