Quindell buy sends Slater & Gordon to A$1 billion loss

Concerns about Slater & Gordon’s mounting debt pile sent shares in the Australian law firm tumbling again as it confirmed an annual loss of A$1 billion (£580 million).

The huge deficit stemmed from a writedown of $880 million on the value of its UK claims business which it bought from Quindell, the scandal-ridden AIM-listed outsourcer which is now known as Watchstone Group.

Slater & Gordon managed to renegotiate with its lenders in May, but the personal injury claims firm said that its net debt at the end of June still stood at A$682 million.

The results were unveiled alongside a board shake-up as three non-executive directors stepped down, including Ken Fowlie, who will continue to run the UK business.

Managing director Andrew Grech said: “Although the UK performance improvement programme is still in its early stages, the second-half results indicate that our efforts are beginning to bear fruit.”

However, Grech’s comments failed to convince investors and the shares dived 15% to 47.5 cents.