30 Mar 2010

Geneva admits it will have to work hard to regain trust

10:25 am on 30 March 2010

Geneva Finance is planning to raise more money from investors, but admits it will have to work hard to regain investors' trust first.

On Monday, the finance company's 3000 debenture note and capital note holders overwhelmingly approved a plan that will see repayments spread over a further three years.

Geneva warned it faced being wound down or placed into receivership if the plan was not approved.

Geneva needs more time to repay investors after wholesale lender the Bank of Scotland International said it would no longer fund Geneva after April 2015.

Geneva managing director David O'Connell says the company hopes to raise about $5 million through a rights issue in the next two to three years, as well as seek more investment from through debenture stock offers.

Mr O'Connell says Geneva Finance has also become more conservative in its borrowing and lending, in order to ensure that it returns a profit of between $3.5 million and $4 million in 2015.

About 100 investors attended the meeting in Auckland on Monday. Most supported the revised repayment plan but not all were convinced the company's future is so bright.