Richard Crookes rejects voluntary administration talk

The company, which builds commercial, education, hospitals, courts, housing, and industrial buildings, operates in NSW, Queensland and the ACT. It posted $1.3 billion in revenue in the 2022 financial year, down from $1.58 billion in the year-earlier period.

The group’s accounts released to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to June 30, 2022 showed it had profit after tax of $7.058 million – a drop from $20.826 million in the previous corresponding year. The 2022 numbers were affected by the global pandemic when construction sites were forced to close.

Completed in December 2022, the $274 million Sydney Modern extension to the Art Gallery of NSW is one of the company’s most significant projects. It also built the $280 million Walsh Bay Arts Precinct on Sydney’s waterfront and the $307 million UTS Central building in Ultimo, Sydney.

The company also last month completed a 66,000 square metre automated distribution centre – the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere – for supermarket giant Coles in Redbank, Queensland, that was opened with fanfare by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.

Richard Crookes joins a growing list of major builders suffering from rising cost of products and labour, as well as less funding appetite from banks and investors, and a slowing property market.

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The collapse of Porter Davis in March left 560 families uninsured. The builder had been unable to find a last-minute buyer or financial backer to cover a funding shortfall estimated at as much as $20 million.

Porter Davis left 1700 homes in Victoria and Queensland unfinished. Another 779 customers who had signed a contract and paid a deposit were also affected, while 410 employees were made redundant.

Lloyds Group also appointed administrators in March after collapsing under increasing cost pressures. The company – which has built many schools – employed 200 staff and had 59 projects under way across Victoria and NSW.

Last year, east coast builder Probuild collapsed, as did another civil engineering firm, Clough, following payment disputes and cost blowouts.

Australia’s largest home builder Metricon also narrowly avoided administration after it put together a rescue package with the support of shareholders, following the sudden death of its founder.

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