Harland & Wolff set to enter administration

H&W said that it was insolvent and would appoint administrators from Teneo.

"The absence of an appropriate funding structure following the rejection of the company's request for a £200m UK export finance facility has left the loss-making company in a difficult financial position," it said in a statement.

The administration process referred only to Harland & Wolff Group Holdings and did not affect the core operational companies within the group, "all of which are expected to continue to trade in the ordinary course of their respective businesses".

"In particular, the core operations undertaken by the four yards and Islandmagee (gas storage project) will continue to trade as usual."

H&W has a £1.6bn contract to construct three Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships with Navantia, the Spanish shipbuilder, which has a yard in Cadiz.

The company in May dismissed "misleading and inaccurate" suggestions that it could close after a newspaper report stated the government was about to block a financial support package to keep the firm afloat.

In a statement to "reassure shareholders" at the trime, H&W said talks continued "at pace" on the export development guarantee with all relevant government departments and financial institutions.

"Management remain comfortable with progress on what is a complex and large transaction for all parties involved," it said, adding that it would update the market "in the next few weeks".

H&W, was founded 162 years ago and famous for building the ill-fated 'Titanic' and its sisters 'Olympic' and 'Britannic'.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com