Future remains uncertain for Cosalt

COSALT, the marine safety business, faces debts of around £17m and is still dependent on assistance provided by chairman David Ross, the company said today.

The Grimsby-based business said it also believed the £9m deficit in its main defined benefit pension scheme will have increased since that figure was calculated at the end of 2010. However, no formal valuation is open to the company’s directors at this stage.

Cosalt has been trading at a loss for many months, its shares were suspended on the stock market earlier this year and it has been bankrolled by Mr Ross.

In an update today, Cosalt said it had debts of around £17m in bank loans and working capital facilities. The facilities –  provided by two banks, Mr Ross , Oval, a company controlled by Mr Ross, and one unrelated lender – are all due to expire today.

“Cosalt has been and remains in discussions with its lenders and also the trustees of the group’s main defined benefit pension scheme with regard to a solution to the group’s financial difficulties, and expects those discussions to continue in the New Year,” the company said.

Cosalt said the ‘pension contribution holiday’ agreed previously with the group’s pension trustees had expired and payments had been proposed to recommence in October. However, this has not happened.

The company said it still does not think the sale of its remaining assets or businesses would offer a “viable alternative” to Mr Ross’s previous offer for the company.

Earlier this year he secured a majority stake in the business but did not secure enough support to push through his plans to delist the company.

The company has not published its accounts for 2011 or 2012.