Investors in Van Elle Holdings PLC (LON:VANL) were rocked after the ground engineer said it stood to lose out on up to £4.1mln following the collapse of construction group Carillion PLC (LON:CLLN).
Van Elle carried out regular work for Carillion as a specialist sub-contractor, usually on contracts awarded by Network Rail, and the AIM-quoted firm undertook several jobs as recently as last month.
WATCH: Van Elle Holdings increasing profit and turnover year-on-year
The company estimates that it is owed around £1.6mln from those past contracts, some of which have carried over into the New Year.
With the sale of Carillion’s assets unlikely to cover all of the senior debts owed to the big banks, analysts don’t expect most of the smaller companies to see a penny.
Should that be the case for Van Elle, the firm has warned investors that there would be an “adverse financial impact” on the group.
On top of the money owed for past and ongoing jobs, Van Elle had £2.5mln worth of work lined up with Carillion between now and April – revenues which have now been thrown into doubt.
The company said it was too early to tell what the effect of Carillion’s demise will be on that contracted work, although it will monitor situation closely.
“While it is disappointing to note the Carillion announcement we continue to develop further our strong relationship with Network Rail and its principal contractors, and remain committed to developing high quality solutions in the rail division both for upgrade and maintenance work,” said chief executive Jon Fenton.
Van Elle shares slumped 9.4% to 87p in late-morning trade on Tuesday.