NH Concrete Construction: NT labour hire firm collapses amid $200,000-plus tax bill

A Northern Territory labour hire firm that was placed into liquidation in January has an unpaid tax bill of almost $210,000 and may have traded while insolvent, a new report has alleged.

NH Concrete Construction Pty Ltd director Nick Smalios, 45, and Nicholas Halkitis, 51. Picture: Facebook

A Northern Territory labour hire firm that was placed into liquidation in January has an unpaid tax bill of almost $210,000 and may have traded while insolvent, a new report has alleged.

NH Concrete Construction Pty Ltd appointed Stephen James of Adelaide firm BCR Advisory on January 3 to wind up the company’s affairs.

Although according to Mr James’ statutory report to creditors filed with corporate regulator ASIC, it ceased trading prior to his appointment.

Mr James said the company was formed in 2019 to provide labour hire services to a related company, NH Constructions (NT) Pty Ltd.

Both companies are controlled by directors Nicholas Halkitis, 51 – not to be confused with Nikitas (Nick) Halkitis who is a director of HB Group – and Nick Smalios, 45.

According to Mr James’ report, NH Concrete Construction Pty Ltd encountered choppy waters due to “difficult industry trading conditions over the last 18 months”.

This led to a “constrained” cash flow, meaning the company was “unable to maintain payment of its tax obligations which caused an increase in debt owing to the Australian Taxation Office”.

“The directors determined that they were not able to recover from this position and accordingly they took steps to appoint me as liquidator of the company to wind up its affairs,” Mr James said.

NH Constructions (NT) Pty Ltd employees on the job. Liquidated firm NH Concrete Construction Pty Ltd provided labour hire services for the related company Picture: NH Constructions (NT) Pty Ltd

Mr James found the company owed $313,354 to creditors, balanced against assets worth $29,342.

The ATO has lodged a proof of debt claim for $207,720, with Westpac owed an additional $31,264 for finance on an LDV V80 van.

More than $100,000 is owed in unpaid superannuation entitlements – however, Mr James found that $76,934 relates to superannuation due to the directors and their relatives, who are excluded employees under the Corporations Act, meaning their priority claim is capped at $2000.

Unsecured creditors are not expected to receive any dividend from the winding up process.

Mr James alleged the company may have been trading while insolvent since March 31 last year.

The company accrued approximately $150,000 of debt since that point, for which directors of a company can be made liable under s558G of the Act.

However, Mr James concluded it would be uneconomical to pursue Mr Halkitis and Mr Smalios for this amount.

“I have conducted a personal property search in the name of the directors and note that they do not own any property in their personal name,” Mr James said.

“Given the value of the claim, the costs of pursuing the claim and the uncertainty of the directors’ capacity to pay, it is not commercial to pursue an insolvent trading claim against the directors.”

When contacted by the NT News for comment, Mr Halkitis was apoplectic.

“You are joking, right?” he said.

“I think that’s none of your business.

“As if it’s not bad enough as it is, we’ve got turkeys like you with ulterior motives.”