BARGAINS ABOUND AS LIQUIDATORS POUNCE

BARGAIN hunters have been having a field day over the past few months, with liquidator auctions on the rise in Queensland.

The latest will occur next week when Hymans Valuers & Auctioneers puts more than 500 items belonging to collapsed Gold Coast builder Glenzeil under the hammer at Burleigh Heads.

Hymans’ Queensland general manager James Rouse tells Gold Coast Business News that the auction house has witnessed a spike in liquidator’s auctions over the past four months – and companies in civil construction, earthmoving and transport have been hardest hit.

Rouse blames the slump in the resources sector leading to cutbacks by mining services companies and work drying up for subcontractors.

“We do these auctions on a regular basis and, over the last three or four months, we have done one a week or one a fortnight generally speaking,” Rouse says.

“Times are tough particularly in the mining services and civil construction industries. Transport also is a very tough game at present.

“I guess a lot of this is a flow on effect of the mining industry coming off quite significantly.”

Rouse says he expects between 50 and 100 registered bidders at the Glenzeil auction, to be held on October 8 at Glenzeil’s former headquarters on Township Drive at Burleigh Heads.

He says Hymans, which works extensively with insolvency practices and banks, is selling all assets associated with Glenzeil’s construction activities on the day.

This includes light commercial vehicles, a Komatsu forklift, 17 shipping containers used as site offices, power tools, builders’ equipment and appliances.

“There will be reserves on some of the larger items, such as the motor vehicles,” Rouse says.

“They’ll be very realistic reserve prices, but generally most of the items will be unreserved.

“The equipment all has to be sold and I would expect there will be a number of bargains on the day.

“Glenzeil was a major player on the Gold Coast, and has contributed greatly to the industry.

“This sale represents a great opportunity to secure good quality, well maintained equipment at auction prices.”

Buyers are already lining up with Hymans reporting between 50 and 60 hits a day from prospective buyers of the auction lots.

Hymans conducted a complete evaluation of Glenzeil’s assets following the appointment of Peter Dinoris, of Vincents Chartered Accountants, as voluntary liquidator to Glenzeil on September 8.

Glenzeil was one of the Gold Coast’s largest construction companies with annual turnover of about $100 million, but Dinoris told creditors last week that the company had fallen victim to a downturn in new contracts and tight profit margins.

Among the company’s major projects left unfinished are Metro Property Group’s $35 million Plaza Apartments in South Brisbane and the Pikos family’s $35 million Pure Kirra project at Kirra.

Rouse says among the Glenzeil assets already liquidated is an Audi motor vehicle which went through the auto auction two weeks ago.

He also says IT equipment will be sold separately.