Probuild reportedly preparing to call in administrators

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National building company Probuild is reportedly preparing to call in administrators after making a huge loss on one of its Queensland projects.

Tradies have been told to stop work on building giant Probuild’s troubled high rise project in Brisbane amid concerns the company is on the verge of collapse. Scores of tradies were seen pulling equipment and tools from Cbus Property’s 443 Queen St project in Brisbane after being told the site would be locked up at 5pm.

One tradie who declined to be named said the project had been plagued by lengthy delays over the past two years. “We were just told to pick out tools up because Probuild were pulling the pin on all their projects across Australia,” the tradie said.

Another tradie says his firm is owed at least $250,000, with other subbies owed substantially more. “It is going to run into the millions what tradies are owed,” he said.

The national building company is reportedly preparing to call in administrators after making a huge loss on the Brisbane CBD project.

The company has major works around the country including the PDG developed 18-storey second stage of Elizabeth North in Melbourne, which will be the future headquarters of global biotech company CSL.

It was also building the Poly Australia developed office tower 1000 Latrobe in Melbourne’s Docklands. Comment has been sought from the company.

Melbourne-based Probuild recorded revenue of $1.3bn last year and a profit of just over $4m but took a major hit on the 47-level Queen St project amid rising technical difficulties and a two-year delay.

It’s Queensland arm, PCA Qld, has accumulated losses of more than $28m over the past two years impacted by the riverfront 443 Queen St project that is billed as Australia’s first subtropical designed building.

PCA Qld’s losses forced its parent Probuild Constructions (Aust) to pump $15m into the company last year as part of a recapitalisation. Industry sources say the loss on the Queen St project could be as much as $120m.

In January last year the state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation withdrew its offer to buy Probuild Constructions for about $300m after its South African parent company Wilson Bayly Holmes–Ovcon (WBHO) was told the Federal Government would likely reject the takeover bid on national security grounds.

At the time WBHO said it remained “optimistic about the fundamentals of Probuild and its prospects in the Australian market and continues to assess all potential opportunities for Probuild to maximise shareholder value and the value and potential of Probuild”.

Probuild employs more than 520 people across Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, and Queensland, and is administered by its head office in Melbourne.

Probuild is one of Australia’s largest construction companies, with work in hand at around $5bn. According to its website, the company has thousands of apartments currently under construction and morethan 370,000 square metres of retail work underway with the bulk of projects in Melbourne.

Other projects in Melbourne include the next stage of US equity giant Blackstone’s huge build-to-rent apartment development at Caulfield Village and the 496-apartment building Midtown MacPark Stage C1.

In Perth it is building the The Towers at Elizabeth Quay in Perth, Stage 2 and 3 and the 450-room W Hotel on Darling Harbour in Sydney.