Civil and mining contractor Brierty plans to quit its South Perth headquarters to cut costs in the wake of a year-long struggle to stay afloat.
Brierty said it had decided to relocate its head office to the Maddington premises which houses its workshop.
In unaudited results released yesterday, the company said it had written off improvements to the South Perth office and made a provision for the cost of sub-letting part of the premises, to the tune of $1.2 million.
Brierty struck a rescue deal with Bankwest in July for a $6 million debt facility which enabled it to continue operating, after a road project blowout last year devastated its finances.
The annual results indicated a tentative recovery in the company’s fortunes, with revenue down but pre-tax profit and cash flow in the black.
Brierty recorded a net loss of $2.9 million, largely because of a decision to write off $10 million in deferred tax losses. The previous year’s loss was $52 million.
Revenue fell 41 per cent to $126 million.
Profit before tax of $7.1 million, bolstered by a $5.8 million upward valuation of plant and equipment, turned around a $65 million loss.
Operating cash flow of $3.9 million reversed a $7.6 million outflow 12 months earlier.
The contractor’s cash deficit improved to $6.2 million from $20.7 million. At December 31 the figure had been on a precipice at $23 million.
Gross debt had been cut by $7.4 million to $41.3 million.
The refinancing deal with Bankwest had been put in jeopardy by Rio Tinto suspending Brierty from a Pilbara mining contract.
It went ahead when Brierty was cleared to restart operations at the Western Turner Syncline Stage 2 project.
Preparation of the financial results represented former WA treasurer Troy Buswell’s last duties as chief financial officer before he left the company last month.
Brierty said it would release audited results by the end of this month. The company said its order book stood at $145 million at June 30. That compared with $219 million six months earlier.
:WestAustralian
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