This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
LENDLEASE is facing a second class action with shareholders alleging the company did not properly disclose the under performance of its engineering and services business.
The proceeding, filed by Phi Finney McDonald, is said to be brought on behalf of securityholders who acquired an interest in Lendlease’s stapled securities or American Depositary Receipts in the period from 17 October 2017 to 25 February 2019.
They are making similar allegations Maurice Blackburn class action launched in April, which applied to shareholders who purchased shares between 17 November 2017 and 8 November 2018.
The class action alleges Lendlease breached the Corporations Act by failing to properly inform the market of serious problems in its engineering and services business, which led to millions being wiped off its market capitalisation when the true extent of the problems was revealed.
In February Lendlease reported a 96% plunge in net profit, falling to $15.7 million in the HY19 compared to $425.6 million in HY18, due to the troubled engineering business.
The engineering & services business booked a loss of $473.7 million, on top of the $173.5 million loss in HY18. This comes after Lendlease said on 9 November 2018, it had identified ‘further underperformance’ in its engineering and services business, also announcing that it was reviewing its engineering and services business in light of that underperformance.
Lendlease yesterday said it denies any liability and will vigorously defend the proceedings.
