Image: Porter Davis
It was an unexpected announcement on Friday when Australia’s thirteenth largest home builder, Porter Davis Homes, revealed it had appointed Grant Thornton Australia as liquidators after failing to find someone to save the firm.
With 470 staff members, the firm had 1700 projects in Victoria and Queensland in jeopardy. Not long afterwards, another construction firm, Lloyd Group, collapsed with 200 staff and 59 projects affected.
Deloitte has been working to try and rescue the firm, while they also seek a buyer. They are also assessing the company’s books to see where costs can be recouped.
A Grant Thornton spokesperson shared that the financial environment for residential home building had been extremely challenging, which had contributed to the PDH Group’s financial position. They added that despite the support from shareholders and lenders, the group had been unable to secure the necessary funding to allow Porter Davis to remain viable and the directors had no alternative but to place the companies into liquidation.
In addition to this, 779 contracts have been signed with customers but building has yet to begin. Englehart Homes, a Queensland based subsidiary of Porter Davis, will not be impacted and will continue to operate.
