Debt-ridden property firm Bathla may collapse this week, says administrator

Debt-ridden property firm Bathla may collapse this week, says administrator Administrators of major property developer Bathla Group have warned that the business does not have enough money to survive until the end of this week unless it secures urgent funding to pay staff. The company's 350 staff have not been paid for eight weeks, administrators Teneo said in a press conference. "We can't go to the end of the week if we don't have money for payroll on Thursday," Stephen Longley, Teneo's senior managing director, said. "We don't have any cash to pay wages [and] we don't have any cash to pay suppliers. "So unless that situation can be resolved, we won't have any other option but to close the business." Administrators were appointed last Tuesday after Bathla was unable to pay debts that topped $3.2 billion. On Thursday, administrators asked for a cash injection of $20 million to keep the business afloat. The NSW government has declined to provide a lifeline but they are hopeful someone else might step forward. Teneo also said it had borrowed $1 million from its own head office so Bathla Group could afford to pay for vehicle registrations, petrol and "just to keep the lights on". "But that can't last," Mr Longley said.