Electronics giant Dick Smith has been placed into voluntary administration, putting the company’s future in doubt.
Dick Smith has two stores in Penrith – one in Westfield and a large store in Batt Street, Jamisontown.
Both Penrith stores remain trading but their medium and long term futures are in doubt.
The decision to appoint an administrator comes after a pre-Christmas sale described by many as a fire sale or ‘suicide sale’, with large discounts on many items.
But Dick Smith Chairman Rob Murray said the sale had not generated the income required to avoid an administrator being called in.
“The directors formed the view that any success in obtaining alternative funding would not have been sufficiently timely to support short-term funding requirements and allow the company to order required inventory during the next four to six weeks,” Mr Murray said in a statement released through the ASX.
“The directors have been unsuccessful in obtaining the necessary support of its banking syndicate to see it through this period. The directors are of the view that without this support, there is no option other than to appoint a voluntary administrator.”
