Trustee refuses Irongate request

Irongate chairman Kevin Podmore. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Irongate Property, the renamed St Laurence Property & Finance, could be running out of time.

The business, which has fixed-rate bonds trading on NZX, announced yesterday that its trustee had refused to extend a waiver after rule breaches.

Kevin Podmore, Irongate's chairman, said he hoped the situation would be resolved soon.

"Irongate had notified its trustee Perpetual Trust that the valuation losses and provisions recognised in its unaudited half-year result had caused it to breach two trust deed ratios. A temporary waiver of the breaches has been sought by Irongate.

"Perpetual Trust's board has now notified Irongate that it has declined to grant a waiver of either breach at this time.

"Irongate's current strategy is to reduce debt through asset sales and the company continues to pursue this sales programme. If successfully completed, this should result in the trust deed breaches being remedied," Podmore said.

"The Perpetual Trust board has reserved its position until the end of January 2011, when, in the event that either of the two breaches remain, it will review its decision."

On October 15, Irongate revealed it had requested waivers from Perpetual and Westpac over non-payment under its banking facilities with Westpac.

Then, Irongate warned of trouble when it released its half-year results for the period to September 30 and declared a half-year, after-tax loss of $13.9 million.

Irongate is one of the few remnants of the Wellington-headquartered St Laurence finance and investment real estate empire worth about $1 billion at its peak and run by Podmore. St Laurence is in receivership, owing 9000 investors about $245 million.

Irongate is one of the last businesses from this group to have escaped collapse. A $50 million repayment due in May could change that, the company said in releasing the interim result.