Prime gets a serious warning from its auditors
Prime Retirement and Aged Care Property Trust has been warned by the company’s auditors about its future viability.
Pitcher Partners, Prime’s auditors, issued the warning after Prime conceded it had technically breached its covenants and was in discussions with its financial institutions about changing some loan conditions.
“Should the trust not have the continuing support of its financiers or be able to obtain sufficient alternate funding, should this be required, there would be significant uncertainty whether it would be able to continue as a going concern,” the auditors warned in Prime’s half-yearly report.
Prime posted a loss of $91.2 million, largely due to a $44.8 million reduction in the value of its property assets.
Prime, whose Chairman is former federal health minister Michael Wooldridge, is having to consider a number of options as part of a strategic review. Their options on the table include selling $60 million of non-core assets, looking for new investment or a merger with another company.
“The immediate focus of the board is to conserve cash while the economy is in its current turmoil. Our intent is for the trust to emerge as a strong and focused operation,” Wooldridge said in a statement.
