Probuild has told its national workforce to down tools, with its parent, Johannesburg listed Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon Limited (WBHO), putting the business into administration.
The move comes after four years of financial assistance by WBHO totaling $183.5 million (R2 billion).
“The Australian construction environment has also become increasingly competitive and contractual [and] in our view, the potential risk of large mega building projects outweighs the current margins available,’ a statement said.
“With this in mind, the company has adopted a more conservative bidding strategy focused on lower-risk and less complicated projects,” it added.
“Based on this approach, it was the company’s intention to see some decline in the order book as we reduce our exposure to high-risk projects.
“However, sourcing acceptable projects has been made more difficult with procurement activity and the number of available projects being impacted by COVID-19”.
Probuild, known in financial documents as WBHO Australia, is the second major builder to collapse in the last three months – liquidation/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>following ABD Group.
A smaller group, Brisbane based Privium, also went into voluntary…