Lancsville profit up - but trade creditor debt climbs 175% to £22m

Lancsville Construction has generated a healthy pre-tax profit of £2.5m which is much stronger than the previous figure of just £180,000.

Lancsville’s latest figures, covering the 12 months to 31 January 2008, show another surge in turnover – almost doubled to £130m after running to £70m in the previous year.

There was also a jump in the level of trade creditors with the amount owed climbing from £8m to £22m.

During the same time, the sum owed to Lancsville’s creditors in total has lifted to £35m. The previous tally stood at £22m.

A source confirmed today that no credit insurer will offer cover to subcontractors working for Lancsville.

In the two previous years, Lancsville’s highest-paid director had taken a massive amount of cash out of the company – being paid a total of £7.6m in the course of 24 months.

This time round, his annual pay figure ran to £604,000.

During the period, Lancsville’s accounts show that the value of fixed assets jumped from £3.8m to more than £11m. The figure includes assets held under hire purchase agreements.

The biggest change in fixed assets came in the form of plant and machinery which had a net book value of £3m in January 2007 but a much higher figure of £11m at the financial year-end.

Overall, the group’s net debt stood at £15m at the end of the period, after opening at £7m.

Mark Henry took over the reins at Lancsville five years ago from his father Billy who founded the company. With a new leader in charge, annual turnover has shot up from £20m to £130m.

Since the financial year-end, venture capital company Agilo is reported to have boosted Lancsville’s finances with an injection of £10m of cash.

Jason Granit, a founder of Agilo, came on board as a director of Lancsville in May this year.

Agilo, based in the Cayman Islands, invests in struggling companies. Its website says: “Our in-depth knowledge of distressed and special situations, gives us a distinctive edge.”