St Laurence woes shouldn't spill over to Property and Finance

Podmore is in talks with the trustee for St Laurence Ltd., Perpetual Trust, to try to stave off receivership amid concern the company won't be able to meet the terms of its moratorium. Some 9,000 investors owed $250 million in frozen funds last year agreed to give the company until 2013 to repay 70% of its debentures. There's "a material uncertainty" about its ability to make the payment, according to its annual report.

"We're very hopeful St Laurence (Ltd.) won't be put in receivership and are having discussions with the trustee," Podmore told a meeting of St Laurence property & Finance investors in Wellington last week.

St Laurence Ltd. owns about 35% of Property & Finance and manages its property portfolio through another entity, St Laurence Funds Management Ltd., stoking concern that Property & Finance could be "tainted" by the financial woes of its associates.

Podmore said even if St Laurence Ltd. fell into receivership, it wouldn't be in the receiver's best interests to drag Property & Finance down with it. In hindsight, the group should have sold property assets before their value was hurt by the financial crisis, and banked the proceeds.