Custom publisher ETN Communications appoints administrators, but administrator confident it can be salvaged

Custom publisher ETN Communications has entered administration, with a Tax Office debt believed to be behind the collapse of the 10-year-old business.

ETN describes itself as a “creative, dynamic group of publishers and media specialists with a highly effective company structure.”

Its products include Fast Thinking, a quarterly magazine on innovation managed for the AiGroup subsidiary, the InnovationXchange Network, as well as journals, books and podcasts.

The company says it entered external administration with the purpose of solving a dispute with the Australian Taxation Office and has chosen to take a stand. The company says it is cash positive. 

Its administrator, Schon Condon of Condon Associates, says the company is still trading and he is fairly confident about its outlook despite operating within a “fickle industry.”

The Sydney-based business is believed to have two full-time employees and six part-time employees, with most workers on contracts or freelance.

“There appears to have been some dilemmas with poor advice given to directors which ultimately led to pressure from the ATO,” Condon told SmartCompany. The Tax Office is its main creditor with a debt believed to be $130,000; Westpac is also a lender to the group.

“I am of the opinion at the moment that the business will survive, in one way or another, whether it’s sold or a proposal is structured that enables the existing corporate shell to continue.”

Stressing it was still early days, Condon adds that pressures in the broader economy were compounding challenges in the fast-moving publishing industry.

“Times are tough across the board.”

Condon expects buyers to emerge for the business, particularly from within the media industry, although he says ETN Communication had a “potpourri” of publications, rather than a focus on a particular sector.

Its clients have included National Australia Bank, St George Bank, state and federal Governments and not-for-profits.