Building services company T Clarke says it is still trying to recover more than £2m stolen by an employee.
In a trading update released last week, the contractor announced that it will make a provision of £2.2m in its next round of results for the fraud. It also revealed it had spent £400,000 directly investigating the situation and trying to recover the money.
The fraud involved accounting over several years at its mechanical contracting subsidiary DG Robson Mechanical Services and came to light last October. T Clarke had bought Essex-based DG Robson in 2010 for £6.5m.
In the trading statement, T Clarke said its profit for the year is expected to be in line with market expectations, though it said legal proceedings to recover the missing funds were continuing.
The company’s net cash position at 31 December was £9.2m, up 39% from the £6.6m reported the previous year. The group said its forward order book also strengthened during the year, rising to £330m from £300m a year earlier, and pointed to notable new project wins with both the University of Gloucester Business School & Growth Hub and the Plymouth History Centre.
The company said: “Results will include exceptional charges and provisions in relation to the internal fraud at our DGR subsidiary.
“These are estimated at £2.2m, including a provision for professional costs of £0.4m directly associated with our efforts to recover the misappropriated funds.
“Profits for the year are expected to be in line with market expectations after reflecting the full impact of the accounting adjustment for the fraud in the period, other than the provision for related professional costs referred to above.
“Legal proceedings to recover the misappropriated funds are ongoing.”
