Last updated 12:42, Saturday, 04 October 2008

FINANCIAL pressures on the firm behind plans to transform Workington’s Corus site won’t affect its plans, Eatonfield Developments’ chief Rob Lloyd said last night.

In an announcement to the stock exchange, the company said profits before tax will fall below expectations, but it was trying to fill funding gaps for projects and was cutting costs.

Mr Lloyd said: “Corus is unaffected, the company is still healthy, and we are committed to it; it is our 100 per cent priority.

“Everything is still on track with the planning applications. The entire property sector has been badly hit but the company is still substantially profitable.”

Eatonfield has been working with debt providers to secure funding, has extended overdraft facilities but has a short-term funding gap.

Mr Lloyd has increased his personal guarantee of the group’s debt to £1 million and will be paid a £95,000 fee.

He has offered to loan £750,000 from his Rob Lloyd Racing Limited in return for a profit-sharing arrangement on the Corus scheme and a site in Birkwood, Scotland.

This loan needs shareholder approval later this month.

Without these measures the company would face “an uncertain future”, it said.

But Mr Lloyd said: “That money is guaranteed and the company will survive.”

Eatonfield bought the 87-acre Moss Bay site last year and aims to create a seaside village community.