Shipbuilder Cammell calls in receivers
Cammell Laird, the troubled Merseyside shipbuilder, has called in receivers from PricewaterhouseCoopers leaving 3,500 jobs in doubt.
The shipbuilder looked to be on the up six months ago with a record order book of £750m.
But it said on Wednesday that it had asked its bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, to call in receivers after a series of cancelled orders sank its financial performance. In November an Italian company abruptly terminated a £50m cruise liner contract.
Earlier yesterday the day Cammell asked for trading in its shares and bonds to be suspended. Its shares had plummeted from a high of 140p to 6p – the level at which they were suspended.
Earlier in the year the shipbuilder, which is £125m in debt, had lost its chief executive John Stafford who quit after the loss of the Italian re-fitting contract blew a hole in the company?s accounts. Finance director Jon Schofield temporarily took on the role chief executive role.
Last year the company made pre-tax profits of £16m.
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Stafford quits at Cammell Laird