CEC has put its loss-making RapidBuild concrete panel plant on "care and maintenance" and continued with redundancies as part of its ongoing debt reduction strategy.

Struggling under debt exposure of more than $130 million, the cash-strapped construction company yesterday announced it had shelved plans to automate the concrete panel plant.

Redundancies would see 162 jobs gone by July, cutting the workforce to 370. Payouts would total $1.3 million.

The RapidBuild move and redundancies would save the company between $12 million and $15 million annually.

Earlier in the week CEC pulled out of a joint venture with developer Consolidated Properties, deciding to sell land and other non-core assets on its own in a bid to bring down its crippling debt. To date it has contracts for sale on land and other assets in various stages totalling $76.7 million; the majority of which will go towards debt reduction.

Chief executive Roy Lavis and board chairman Rob Borbidge said in a statement that the moves were the result of an organisational review.

Despite RapidBuild's closure and the costs of the redundancies, operating revenues,
excluding the asset sales, for the next financial year were still forecast to exceed this year's.

Mr Lavis said all houses under construction using the pre-cast panels would be completed before the closure.

CEC shares closed 1c higher at 72c yesterday.

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