If I only could have had a 4th Dirks buy report and at least one more MarketDigestOnline Whisper Stock profile by Ted Melcher....I just know I could have turned the company around!!
New Tel was solvent: ex-boss Pete Malone
By Fran Spencer
FORMER New Tel chief executive Peter Malone yesterday lashed out at the liquidator of the failed telco with an angry denial that the company had traded while insolvent.
Mr Malone, who the liquidator plans to pursue through the courts, also claims New Tel "totally, absolutely, certainly" would have traded its way out of difficulty if left under his stewardship.
Speaking to WestBusiness last night, Mr Malone said any attempt by liquidator Phil Carter of PricewaterhouseCoopers to sue him or the other directors of the company would be defended "vigorously".
"Obviously from our point of view we had separate legal and accounting advice, and it never said there was any issue of insolvent trading," he said.
"We would have a totally opposing view to what this guy Carter is saying . . . from our point of view we had separate advice all the way through and what was confirmed to us was that we were solvent all the way through.
"I think the statements that were made to convince people to go for liquidation were very much 'if you give us the liquidation mandate, we can go after the names here' (and) that persuaded AAPT, Telstra and Optus to break with the rank and file and vote for liquidation, but I think that's completely contradictory to the internal advice."
Mr Carter took control of New Tel on December 10 after its biggest creditor, Optus, called in the administrators. He has said repeatedly that he believes the Perth-based company, which had estimated debts of $50 million, might have been insolvent for up to a year before his appointment and has flagged plans to pursue its directors through the courts.
But according to Mr Malone, the appointment of Mr Carter killed off any hopes of the company regaining its feet.
"I think people have got to look at the facts surrounding the appointment of the administrator and the situation that came about . . . at the end of the day I think that we had a company with a plan and it was going forward, and (then) we had an administrator appointed that stymied all our actions - when that happens you're out in the cold, you've got no control of the company any more," he said.
And he claims he would have been able to turn the company's fortunes around if left in charge.
"Just read between the lines . . . if (the money from the sale of the fixed line business), the share that was due to New Tel, had come to New Tel there wouldn't be a shortfall," he said.
"Creditors would have been paid off in full."
Mr Malone said plans to buy back some of New Tel's assets and resurrect the company had fallen through, and he had now turned his back on the telco industry.
The former chief is already embroiled in a Supreme Court battle with the Australian Taxation Office, which has targeted both his personal bank account and that of former New Tel chairman Harry Sorensen in an attempt to recover more than $570,000 in unpaid tax.
Mr Malone refused to comment on the tax action, but said the matter was "under negotiation". |
