Australian construction woes set to continue as builders brace for further insolvencies
Rising inflation, trade shortages and supply chain issues predicted to place more at risk of defaulting
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The risk of Australian construction businesses defaulting has increased for the next 12 months, a credit risk assessor White Paper has revealed.
The September 2022 CreditorWatch Business Risk Index shows that while B2B defaults dipped last month, they are still well above 2021 levels. Recent default levels are a strong indicator of future defaults.
CEO of CreditorWatch Patrick Coghlan said in the company’s White Paper that their analysis had noted in October 2021 that Probuild, one of Australia’s largest construction companies, was at serious risk of defaulting. The company collapsed in late February with $5 billion worth of projects in the pipeline.
Coghlan noted that despite some positive signs, including increases in B2B trade activity and credit enquiries earlier in the year, continued supply chain issues, trade shortages and rising inflation still placed builders at risk.
As a major employer, any downturn in the construction sector has serious implications for the wider economy, he said.
“A healthy construction sector is vital to a strong economic recovery and ongoing growth. The industry employs roughly nine per cent of Australian workers, putting it behind only healthcare, retail and professional services in terms of employment numbers.”
While CreditorWatch noted according to their own March 2022 report that the construction industry has a low probability of default at 3.9 percent, the outlook for the next 12 months is concerning.
James O’Donnell, CEO of Open Analytics says some big players have already fallen, giving all those in the construction sector – large and small – pause for thought.
“We have seen some big-name failures in recent months and the fallout from these events on smaller players is yet to be fully realised,” he says. “Cost pressures and compressed margins don’t appear to be going away soon, so expect more insolvencies in this sector over the next 12 months.”
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
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A water lily painting by Claude Monet of his Giverny gardens is expected to achieve at least US$65 million at Christie’s November sale of 20th-century art in New York
Le bassin aux nymphéas, or water lily pond, painted around 1917 to 1919, is a monumental canvas extending more than six-and-a-half feet wide and more than three-feet tall, that has been in the same anonymous private collection since 1972. According to Christie’s, the painting has never been seen publicly.
The artwork is “that rarest thing: a masterpiece rediscovered,” Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art said in a news release Thursday.
A first look at this thickly painted example of Monet’s famed and influential water lily series will be on Oct. 4, when it is revealed in Hong Kong.
The price record for a Nymphéas painting by Monet was set in May 2018 for Nymphéas en fleur, another large-scale work that had been in the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. That painting sold for nearly US$85 million.
The current work for sale is guaranteed, Christie’s confirmed. The auction house did not provide further details on the seller.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
