After 15 months, we finally got the details on Interserve’s seismic 2019 this morning with the publication of the group’s accounts. It was a year that saw the beleaguered firm collapse and then resurrected by its lenders in a pre-pack administration.
Since then, the group has changed dramatically, with the FM business sold to Mitie, the RMD Kwikform and construction businesses separated further with different chairs and most recently a rebrand of Interserve Construction as Tilbury Douglas.
Its accounts for 2019, which were signed off just last month, reveal a number of important details about what the group now faces.
The heavy debt burden remains
Interserve Construction, now rebranded as Tilbury Douglas, made an operating loss of £108m according to its latest results.
Interserve Group’s accounts for the year ending 31 December 2019, published this morning, revealed that energy-from-waste (EfW) contracts had once again produced heavy losses for the construction business. It booked a £72.7m loss from EfW projects in the year, relating mainly to its Derbyshire and Glasgow plants. It was forced to write off a £22m investment in a joint venture company set up to deliver the Derby EfW project, and suffered a further £29m loss through a performance bond on the project being called in by the client, Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council.