KPL subcontractors likely to lose out

The £5 million in debts owed by Dungiven firm KPL to ‘unsecured creditors’, including many local companies, are likely to remain unpaid.
Picture Margaret McLaughlin ©Picture Margaret McLaughlin ©
Picture Margaret McLaughlin ©

A report by KPL’s administrators accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers shows the scale of problems faced by the local utilities company.

The Sentinel has obtained a copy of PWC’s ‘Statement of administrator’s proposals’ which has been shows that KPL had debts to ‘secured creditors’ well in excess of £10 million. Amongst the ‘secured creditors’ listed by the administrators is the Ulster Bank Group, who are “owed circa £9.5 million”.

KPL also has debts, worth approximately £5 million, to what are known as ‘unsecured’ creditors. This group, which includes large numbers of subcontractors and other local firms, are unlikely to receive anything at all, the report states.

Amongst the long list of ‘unsecured’ creditors are firms based in Limavady and across the North West, some of whom are owed sums in the region of £100,000 and even as much as £250,000.

The total number of creditors listed by the administrator’s report runs well into the hundreds.

The report states: “Unsecured creditors include trade creditors, amounts owed to subcontractors, and the estimated deficiency from the Banks’ lending (after allowing for the likely value of fixed charge security).

“Based on the level of secured debt, it is highly likely that there will be insufficient funds available to enable a distribution to the unsecured creditors of the Company.

The total value of unsecured creditors per the Director’s Statement of Affairs is circa £5 million.”

The administrators have sought, meanwhile, to recoup as much money as possible through a range of measures

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