history repeats

My mate was one of the 3.5c in the dollar crowd . 15 years on and same old same old.

And i wonderered why he wouldnt go near a raptis site this boom?



Raptis Group's future in doubtFont

Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print Anthony Klan | September 11, 2008
AN arm of listed Gold Coast developer Raptis Group has been swept into receivership, with the entire group suspended from trading amid grave fears for its future.

It is the second time the Raptis Group -- headed by property stalwart Jim Raptis -- has been stricken with severe financial difficulties, with the company collapsing in 1993 following the previous property slump.

Raptis Group arm Limdaning, which was developing the third tower of Raptis's $700 million Southport Central development on the Gold Coast, was placed in receivership after it failed to pay subcontractors.

Raptis lender Capital Finance Australia said yesterday it had appointed KordaMentha as receiver to Limdaning, but declined to comment further.

Raptis announced the trading halt in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange and said Raptis's directors were "considering funding alternatives and seeking advice before taking appropriate action".

Raptis Group was unavailable to comment yesterday.

Late last month, the company said it had delivered a $13.9 million net loss for the full year after accounting for $20.5 million of write-downs on the value of property assets in the period.

At June 30, Raptis had total assets of $912 million and total liabilities of $903 million.

The company's shares, which had been trading at 80c before it published those full-year results, were trading at 40c yesterday before being suspended from trading.

Mr Smith of KordaMentha said the 39-level third tower of the Southport Central development, which aims to deliver 258 apartments and more than 14,000sqm of retail and office space, was "substantially complete", with eight levels of the project to be finished.

"The objective of the receivership is to complete the project and finalise the substantial pre-sales," Mr Smith said.

"Buyers who have purchased off the plan can expect to have their contracts completed and apartments delivered on schedule or very close to schedule."

Sources close to Raptis said the company faced an uncertain future and directors and advisers would be scrambling to examine the extent of its financial woes.

Property analyst Bill Morris, of Prodap, said the Gold Coast had been hit hard by the sub-prime led credit crisis, but believed it was not suffering more than the capital cities.

"Everyone in Australia is struggling, because demand has tightened because there's no funds," Mr Morris said.

"If would-be investors can't borrow money then they can't buy properties."

He said a slew of counter-cyclical investors -- including several groups from South Korea -- were scouring the Gold Coast seeking to pick up "bargain" development sites.

It is the second time Raptis has suffered severe financial difficulties, with the group placed in administration in 1993. At the time, the company had debts of about $70 million, of which about 3.5c in the dollar was recovered by investors.

Following that collapse, Mr Raptis vowed to rebuild his empire.

"Our aim is that in 10 years' time we will again be a very profitable and sound company but we'll be taking a conservative path," Mr Raptis said.

At that time, Mr Raptis said the company -- listed in 1986 -- did not foresee the extent of the early 1990s property market collapse "because it had never happened before".

Mr Raptis first entered property development in Sydney in 1967, and moved to the Gold Coast six years later.

According to its website, Raptis is "confident about the future of southeast Queensland". "Raptis has survived and flourished through the peaks and troughs of the market for more than 30 years and has exciting plans for the future," the site says.