Quinn Insurance in Administration

[Declan]

Given that the business is sound, are / will the job losses be as a result of the decline in the UK business

From what I can gather if they can start to write business again in the UK then the jobs are more secure as the RoI business is seen as the sounder. 

[Bogball XV]

Again listening to Quinn employees on the radio tonight completely disregarding the fact that their boss played fast and loose with the rules. Kept going on about being profitable and yet ignored the fact that an insurance company is in business to pay claims. Being used and abused yet they can't see it.
As i said previously insurance side of the business is basically sound and the question remains how many jobs can be saved if it's taken over.

Given that the business is sound, are / will the job losses be as a result of the decline in the UK business ?.

i think the worry over job losses is because employees have heard the talk that various facets of the business may change ownership - without quinn in charge he may relocate or the profitable parts of the group may no longer subsidise the less profitable sectors.  As I mentioned earlier there is a lot of speculation that some or all of the anglo loan may be swapped for stakes in the Quinn group.

[orangeman]

How much does Quinn Direct need to put into their reserves to bring the company's ratios into line


€400million ??

Depends who you believe Quinn or the regulator but they also need to pay that annually to Anglo.

The anglo loan is to the Quinn Family, but is secured on the assets of the Quinn Group afaik - small, but subtle difference. 

They don't have to transfer any money (I think) to shore up the problem with QI, just get the companies holding the guarantees over QI assets to release them, according to Quinn, this was only a matter of days away from happening, one wonders why Quinn allowed the situation to exist for so long then.

Who are these companies who are holding the guarantees over QI assets ?.

[Bogball XV]

How much does Quinn Direct need to put into their reserves to bring the company's ratios into line


€400million ??

Depends who you believe Quinn or the regulator but they also need to pay that annually to Anglo.

The anglo loan is to the Quinn Family, but is secured on the assets of the Quinn Group afaik - small, but subtle difference. 

They don't have to transfer any money (I think) to shore up the problem with QI, just get the companies holding the guarantees over QI assets to release them, according to Quinn, this was only a matter of days away from happening, one wonders why Quinn allowed the situation to exist for so long then.

Who are these companies who are holding the guarantees over QI assets ?.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0406/1224267745642.html

[Bogball XV]

Also a good article on the situation is here:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2010/0402/1224267557231.html

THE PROVISIONAL administrators of Quinn Insurance have received about 20 inquiries from groups interested in buying all or part of the company's business.

The expressions of interest came as Quinn Group increased its opposition to last Tuesday's appointment of the administrators by the Financial Regulator, raising questions about how the move will affect Quinn's ability to repay its debts to Anglo Irish Bank.

Liam McCaffrey, chief executive of the group, said Quinn Insurance was key to the Quinn family's ability to repay the €2.8 billion it owes to State-owned Anglo Irish. Mr McCaffrey said a "very robust" Quinn Insurance would have been needed for the debt to be repaid, "either through cashflow or disposal".
This was "made much more difficult through the action of Tuesday", he added.

Seán Quinn, the founder of the company, said last night the administration move was one of the worst decisions in Irish corporate history. He said it had placed the jobs of Quinn Group's 5,500 Irish employees in jeopardy.

Mr Quinn confirmed for the first time that his family had lost €3 billion in shares in the last three years. He said the media had thought it was about €1-1.5 billion. "Well I can tell them it was three," he said.

Mr Quinn said "we owe Anglo €2.8 billion", but "we had a plan to reduce that borrowing by €400 million in the next three years.''

Speaking to RTÉ news he said he was making "€400 million or €500 million a year profit, we had no problem in the world paying that back to them."

Meanwhile, the administrators Grant Thornton have told those interested in Quinn Insurance's assets, it is "premature" to consider a sale at this point.

"If we decide to sell all or any part of the business in the future, we shall contact you to ascertain whether you wish to participate in the sales process," they said.

The appointment was made on the back of regulatory concerns over Quinn Insurance's solvency, or the excess of its assets over its liabilities. The concerns arose after the regulator became aware of guarantees made by subsidiaries of Quinn Insurance regarding €1.2 billion in Quinn Group borrowings.

This debt is in addition to the monies the Quinn family owes.

Quinn argues these concerns are unfounded because there is no prospect of the group debt being called in by its lenders. "This could have been resolved given time, and not very much time," said Mr McCaffrey.

It has also emerged that Anglo Irish consulted Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan on the bank's plan to cut its "significant" exposure to the Quinn family.

Anglo chief executive Mike Aynsley wrote to Mr Quinn in February, saying he would discuss with Mr Lenihan, the bank's shareholder as Minister for Finance, a proposal by Mr Quinn to reduce his family's debts, according to a letter seen by The Irish Times .

Under the relationship agreement between the bank and the Minister, Anglo is run on a commercial basis at arm's length from the Government with the commercial relationship between Anglo and its customers left to the bank.

The Minister can, however, intervene to protect the public interest or ensure the bank is following the business plan that complies with the Minister's objectives.

Separately, The Irish Times has confirmed that Anglo's new management team has retained specialist forensic investigators to determine whether former senior managers have concealed or undeclared assets.

Meanwhile, some 300 Quinn staff yesterday protested outside the Dáil, calling on the Government to protect the company's jobs.

The administrator's appointment remains provisional until a further court hearing on April 12th. At that stage Quinn Insurance can oppose it.

[Shamrock Shore]

From what I am hearing once the process ends Sean Quinn will literally only have the shirt on his back left.

If he's lucky!

[give her dixie]

They were a couple of very good articles, and filled in a few spaces in my understanding of it all.
It looks like he is in big trouble all right, and unless the gaurantees are removed, the Insurance business is for sale.
It is a real pity as so many people will loose their jobs.

I just hope he can pull it all together and save the Group.

[orangeman]

From what I am hearing once the process ends Sean Quinn will literally only have the shirt on his back left.
If he's lucky!

How come ??

[Shamrock Shore]

How come ??

Cos of them horrible bastards called personal guarantees

The Group owe over 2 billion to Anglo. Not cosy "come in for a chat Sean" Anglo but 2010 Anglo, not State owned and a CE who is as hard as slap of a hurl on a cold Sunday morning. Add a regenerated Financial Regulator to the mix and you get a situation for Sean Quinn that he cannot escape from.

Do the sums. He admitted losing 3 bn on Anglo plus the 2 bn now owed.........who among us has 5 bn to toss around? And this is before we think of the money he has lost in McInerney.

Quinn Group will survive as an entity........in some shape........but Sean Quinn nor the extended Quinn family may not have any say from now on.

Which is sad to see a man like Sean Quinn ruined over his own foolish exploits when before everything he touched turned to gold.

[gerrykeegan]

Do the sums. He admitted losing 3 bn on Anglo plus the 2 bn now owed.........who among us has 5 bn to toss around? And this is before we think of the money he has lost in McInerney.

Is the 2bn not part of the 3bn lost, I got that impression from the interview on rte. They were going to repay that at 400m per year.

[Shamrock Shore]

I indeed may be wrong Gerry but would Anglo have lent him his losses - before tapping the Golden 10 to prop up the share price.

If they did then I'm out of here. I still have a USA green card somewhere with a valid Social Security Number.

[sammymaguire]

I know its all relative but can someone tell me, what can you not do with €750m that you can do with €3bn? Mind boggling numbers...

[JohnDenver]

I know its all relative but can someone tell me, what can you not do with €750m that you can do with €3bn? Mind boggling numbers...

You can't put on a €750m trixie with €750m! 

[orangeman]

Does anyone have the figures for the Quinn group's turnover, profit and loss, total liabilities, reserves ??

Just to see what we're dealing with here.

[Hereiam]

Have had that problem with the cement alright. Not good for plastering. With regards to the insulation would have no problem using it.