By ANNE GIBSON
The collapse of a large contracting firm, Hornsby Earthmovers Auckland, has resulted in at least $1.5 million of its equipment being put up for auction.
New Zealand Auctioneers will put the gear under the hammer at 10 am tomorrow at its Saleyards Rd site in Otahuhu.
Trucks, truck trailers, bulldozers, rollers, excavators and fork lifts are just some of the items for sale. Auctioneer Bob Carpenter said 175 pieces of equipment were for sale, worth at least $1.5 million.
Hornsby Earthmovers, which went into receivership on April 10, had an annual turnover of $4.5 million and employed about 60 people, but debts, estimated by receiver Graeme McDonald, of McDonald Vague & Partners, of $2.3 million.
The firm had shifted its emphasis from working on large civil works and motorway projects into working for developers, said Mr McDonald. This had been a big mistake.
"When things got tough, they went from the bigger jobs into the smaller ones. They lost money on contracts and bad debts, the tendering process got very competitive and there's been a diminution of the volume of contracting work in Auckland."
Hornsby Earthmovers was owed $45,000 from collapsed builder Hartner Construction, said Mr McDonald.
It was also owed "some millions" by another collapsed builder, Goodall ABL, and was a creditor of yet another, Campbell Construction, he said.
The receiver's report is expected to be completed by the end of this week.
Mr McDonald said first debenture holder the ANZ Bank was owed more than $100,000, second debenture holder UDC more than $300,000 and third debenture holder Design Corp - which sold land to Hornsby Earthmovers - $1.4 million.
"There's a good chance that the first and second debenture holders will be paid in full, but it's difficult to say whether the third debenture holder will be."
Equipment to go under hammer
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.