Insured Group fails to satisfy watchdog again

Insured Group, the Australian insurer which used Lombard Group for a backdoor listing on the NZX, has pulled its prospectus for ASX listing for the second time this year after announcing it will make only a part payment on A$3 million ($3.8 million) due to St George Bank on September 30.

The company "remains in discussions" with the lender, on the expectation St George will extend terms. It was intending to raise A$2.25 million in Australia, which it had hoped would lift its equity enough to satisfy the requirements for an ASX listing and it would delist from the NZX.

Yesterday it said the Australian Securities & Investments Commission held up the prospectus and after questioning by the regulator the company concluded "that the nature of certain prospective transactions [was] too uncertain to enable [the] company to succinctly address the matters raised".

It is the second time this year that ASIC has blocked Insured Group's prospectus. The original version was lodged in May then withdrawn. A new prospectus was lodged on July 23.

St George is Insured Group's financier and biggest creditor and the payment due by the end of next month may be another test for the company.

The shares were last at 4 cents and have jumped 100 per cent on the NZX this year. The funds raised were also meant to repay debt.