PwC administrators rack-up £322m fees on Lehmans

PWC ADMINISTRATORS in charge of Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) have accrued more than £322m in time costs for 26 months.

The remuneration figures were revealed in the latest creditor report. The time costs for the administrators from 15 September 2008 to 31 December 2010 stands at £322.4m.

Included in that figure is £65.3m for six months work undertaken by PwC from 1 July to 31 December. This is for 213,364 billable hours.

A creditors committee has approved the fees as well as remuneration for 2011. Administrators will be paid for 2011 work in 2012.

"The flexible resourcing model, utilising combined teams of PwC, Lehman and contract staff, enables the administrators to deal with the changing demands of the administration, effectively and efficiently, ensuring that maximum possible progress is made in all work streams.

"The cost effective balance of resources between these three pools is a matter which is monitored by the creditors' committee when considering the appropriateness of the administrators' remuneration requests," a statement from the report said.

PwC anticipates the fees to increase for the first quarter of 2011 compared to the last quarter of 2010 because additional staff will be required for further investigation work, and other parts of the administration.

The administrators have managed to secured a further £2.1bn for creditors increasing total funds to pay-out creditors to £12.8bn including realised funds of £10.7bn.

Creditors are collectively owed approximately £13.3bn to £15.7bn, although the final figure has yet to be calculated.

Tony Lomas, Steven Pearson, Dan Schwarzmann and Mike Jervis, partners at PwC, were appointed joint administrators on 15 September 2008.