(Reuters) - British builder Carillion issued its third profit warning of the year on Friday, saying it was at risk of breaching year-end financial covenants and would need to recapitalise.
The construction and support services provider said it needed to delay its financial covenants dates until April 30 and was talking to stakeholders.
"This will require some form of recapitalisation, which could involve a restructuring of the balance sheet. The Board expects to commence steps to implement the chosen option during the first quarter of 2018 and a further announcement will be made in due course," it said.
"Whilst we continue to target cash collections, reduce costs, execute disposals and focus on delivering for our customers, it is clear that significant challenges remain and more needs to be done to reduce net debt and rebuild the balance sheet, Interim Chief Executive Keith Cochrane said.
"A combination of delays to certain PPP (Public-Private Partnership) disposals, a slippage in the commencement date of a significant project in the Middle East and lower-than-expected margin improvements across a small number of UK Support Services contracts....will lead to profits for the year being materially lower than current market expectations," Carillion said in a statement.
It expects average net borrowing in 2017 to be 875-925 million pounds and that this, coupled with its latest forecasts, would mean a covenant breach.
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Carillion in October agreed to new credit facilities and deferrals on some debt repayments.
A month earlier it had said it would be in compliance with its financial covenants.
Analysts have estimated Carillion's debts including provisions, pensions and accounts payable at about 1.5 billion pounds ($1.98 billion).
Its market capitalisation of less than 180 million pounds has fallen by two-thirds since July when it booked an 845 million pound writedown on problematic construction contracts, triggering a profit warning and the departure of its CEO.
It issued a second profit warning in September.
($1 = 0.7557 pounds)
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)