Calibre to take $190m hit

Engineering firm Calibre Group has flagged an $185 million to $190 million impairment as a result of a downturn in its business outlook and forecast trading conditions, as well as the cost of property leases.

The company, headed by Peter Reichler, said the impairment would be largely made up of goodwill write-downs, onerous lease impacts and restructuring costs.

“The non-cash impairment relates primarily to the resources and infrastructure segments’ carrying value of goodwill of about $105 million,” Calibre said.

“Onerous leases and other asset write-downs are approximately $80 million. The cash impact of the restructuring charge will be about $4 million.”

The company said the impairment would not impact recent banking facilities, but it will review its approach to capital management.

“Calibre continues to focus on consolidation and costs savings to minimise operation costs in the current trading environment,” it said.

In November, the company warned shareholders at its annual general meeting that it was undertaking a review of its resources business.

It follows news yesterday that Macmahon Holdings had flagged a $135 million impairment in first half profit on the back of challenging conditions in the mining services sector.

Calibre shares were 4.8 per cent lower at 29.5 cents per share at 9:30am.