Troubled Mouchel must sell off more assets to appease banks

Troubled consultant Mouchel will have to sell off further assets to appease its banks, after selling off its rail division to global consultant Sinclair Knight Merz, analysts have said.

Mouchel confirmed the sale of the £13.6m-turnover division to Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) for £3.4m cash on Wednesday and said the proceeds of the sale will go towards paying down the firm’s £87m debt mountain.

But Andy Brown, analyst at Panmure who follows Mouchel, said the firm would have to make more disposals to keep its “banks at bay”.

Mouchel’s share price has dived in recent weeks as the consultant admitted to an £8m accounting error, delayed its accounts and lost a string of senior executives, including chair David Sugden this week.

Brown said: “The main issue now is that they are seen as a distressed seller, so whatever price you would have thought you’d pay 18 months