Sell-up time as Pressac delists

DEBT-laden car components maker Pressac today signalled the end of the road as its bankers forced it to delist its shares and sell off its divisions one-by-one.

The move, taken to stave off a collapse into administration, highlighted the tough market for suppliers to the car industry and came as MG Rover teeters on the brink.

Pressac suffered a crippling debt spiral after an expensive move into the mobile phone industry in 2000 coincided with flagging demand for new cars in recent years.

Its stock market value has crashed from £260m at the time of the mobile move to just £1m today. It admitted trading continues to be tough as carmakers in Europe and the US struggle to fend off competition from Asian rivals.

Pressac's huge interest charges and fees to its lenders have pushed it into deeper losses than the management expected.

Although net debt is down from the £77m of recent years to £45m, in the year to 31 December it still paid out £4m in interest charges, pushing losses up to £880,000 on sales of £135.6m.

Pressac is already in talks over the sale of one of its divisions and the sale of others will follow. Its shares fell 1¾p to 1¼p.