Companies House info....

sistafromanothermista

I know this is possibly the wrong forum but i was unsure where to put the thread!
If a company (looking at the companies house website) shows assets of £90 would you assume this company is in financial difficulties?

Tixy

Not necessarily.

What information are you looking at on companies house? Are you looking at the Company accounts that you have purchased or something else?

sistafromanothermista

Hi Tixy, no it was just the free info.


It said this;


Incorporation Date: 31 Oct 1994
19 Years old
Financial Year End: 31 Dec
Capital: £90.00 on 16 Jan 2013

Tixy

I can't see where the free info includes an assets figure? the webcheck service doesn't provide that detail does it?

Anyway assuming that assets is the net asset figure then whilst it could be a sign a business is in difficulties there are other options such as

it could be a dormant company and the trade is all done through another associated company or even through an unlimited business
it could be that the business is part of a group and that the surplus funds are hived up to a parent company before each year end
it could be that the shareholders always declare dividends of all surplus funds
it could be a start up business that hasn't made signficiant profits yet (or by the last year end)

sistafromanothermista

I followed this link..
http://www.companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/pure-and-cool



(Link was from someone on the praise, vent and warnings board)


Not this company though.
The company i was looking at has been established for 4 years.
I know someone who works at the company in question and i was just wondering how safe their job was as they haven't been paid for last month and i saw the assets thing at £90 and thought :eek:





Edit to say that i've just realised this is not companies house!

Tixy

Ah - that is capital not assets.

Capital just means the share capital of the company, the nominal value of the shares. It won't have any bearing on the net asset value of the company.

Very common for private companies to have shares of say £2 or £100 but they could have assets worth many more times than that (equally they could be seriously insolvent and still have that level of captial).

imoneyop

Try duedil.com - I think you have to register (free), but from memory, it does give a free view of the company's financial position based on the last submitted accounts - along with other details such as directors.

sistafromanothermista

Thanks all, it's much clearer now

Prothet_of_Doom

I've just put my Ltd company details into that link which shows capital as £100. That is pretty much my investment in order to set up the company and open a bank account.
I think even if you obtained the latest abbreviated accounts, based on the 12 months to June 31st 2012, it would tell you very little about the company and it's health today. (Which reminds me must get my accounts off to the accountant for the 12 months to June 2013)

Tixy

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

The company i was looking at has been established for 4 years.
I know someone who works at the company in question and i was just wondering how safe their job was as they haven't been paid for last month and i saw the assets thing at £90 and thought :eek:

Sounds like it might be a recent problem and chances are the latest year end accounts filed at companies house could be a year old or more.
So you might not be able to find any very useful information from companies house.

If the company had any CCJs against it that could possibly be an indication it was in trouble, but many companies that are in difficulties will run up debts to HMRC first and the employees wouldn't know whether this was the case (unless HMRC debt collectors or bailiffs turn up at the door).

Hope it gets sorted and your friend gets paid, but I guess not being paid is probably the best indicator most employees will ever get that there could be financial problems at their employers.
Do they have any backup plans? are they job searching elsewhere?

paddyrg

Tixy wrote: »

...I guess not being paid is probably the best indicator most employees will ever get that there could be financial problems at their employers.

This, absolutely.

If your friend is owed money, they should hassle for it and see if they can get paid NOW. If everyone is in the same position then being first to kick up a fuss might mean they get their cash.