Dermot Patterson has resigned as chief executive officer of embattled sustainable water and power company, Solco Ltd, only five months after his appointment to the role.
On August 7, directors of the company requested a suspension from trading while they undertook a process to recapitalise the company.
The directors advised that the company had not been able to close the private placement of up to eight million shares with international investment bank Gehard & Co Wertpapierhandelsbank AG because the market has traded below the placement price of 18 cents.
Solco is also undertaking a further financial review of its business in light of its recently reported performance.
The company expects an EBITDA loss for the full year ending June 2006 of $2.3 million on projected revenue of $15.8 million, while the estimated EBITDA loss for the second half year was expected to be in the order of $1.66 million on forecast revenues of $5.9 million.
The company said the EBITDA loss in the second half reflected recent restructuring efforts to return Solco to a cash positive and profitable operating position.
Solco has restructured its business into a power division with the national Choice Electrics solar power products distributors based in Brisbane and the water division based in Perth.
Mr Patterson, following his resignation effective August 25, will take up a senior executive position in the health services industry, where he has more than 30 years’ international experience.
Before joining Solco, Mr Patterson was chief executive of Medec Ltd and spent 20 years with Huntleigh Technology Ltd, a large UK-based international healthcare firm.
Before suspension, Solco was trading at 15.5 cents.
