Structured finance firm Coventree Inc. today reported heavy losses for fiscal 2007 and said it may have to be sold or wound up because its key capital markets business unit is no longer viable.
Coventree, Canada’s largest single sponsor of non-bank asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), disclosed that it lost $7.4 million in the year ended September 30, excluding the results of various special investment entities that it sponsors. That compares with a profit of $30.1 million in fiscal 2006.
The Toronto-based company warned in a news release that whatever happens to efforts by a financial industry investor committee to restructure $30.1 billion in currently frozen ABCP, its capital markets unit, which has historically generated the “vast majority” of the company’s revenue, is no longer viable and therefore will receive no additional investment.
A special committee of the board of directors is continuing to review prospects for the overall company, Coventree said.
“Overall, strategic options for the company will be highly dependent upon the outcome of any investor committee restructuring proposal and could involve, among other things, a sale, merger or other transaction involving the company or parts of the company, or potentially the orderly windup of the company’s operations,” it said.