72 jobs going at Wynyard group

Craig Richardson, Wynyard Group, London. Photo / File

Wynyard today announced that 72 workers have been made redundant at the company in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dubai.

The company last week appointed KordaMentha's Neale Jackson and Grant Graham as voluntary administrators earlier this month to "ensure an environment where all options can be fully explored to retain the value in the business".

Graham today said he and Jackson were unable to continue the ongoing cost of the staff under the current cash deficiencies the company faces.

"Our priority now is to reduce the cost base and work with parties to realise value for Wynyard Group's intellectual property embedded in the various products. Unfortunately, as administrators, we cannot justify incurring continuing costs without confidence in a successful outcome," he said.

Logic Funds manager Greg Marshall is organising a class action lawsuit against the company. He said more than 1,000 Wynyard shareholders have put their names forward to join the proposed class action.

Wynyard, which develops software used by governments and companies to fight crime and corruption, listed on the NZX in July 2013 selling shares in an initial public offering at $1.15 each. The potential claim by investors has been extended to cover the period from the IPO to today instead of the originally proposed period of Aug. 1, 2015, to Feb. 16, 2016.

The claim will centre on Wynyard having misled investors over statements relating to the $26 million reported revenue for 2015 falling well short of its guidance of $40 million-to-$45 million and director comments on the status of the deeply-discounted $30 million capital raising in March at $2 per share.

Zane Kennedy of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts was originally appointed as a legal adviser but has had to stand down due to a conflict within the firm. Marshall, a Wanaka-based funds manager, said he was talking to several other legal advisers prepared to take on the case and hoped to appoint one in the near future.