Creditors of MG Rover and its sister company, engine manufacturer Powertrain, can expect a modest payout this year, according to Tony Lomas, at administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers. MG Rover creditors could expect 5p to 10p in the pound and Powertrain creditors a figure "hopefully in the high teens".

Although the figures will leave creditors nursing heavy losses, the payout is above initial expectations when PwC warned that returns would be "nil or negligible" from MG Rover, with those owed money by Powertrain not much better off.

Yesterday Mr Lomas said PwC had been able to sell almost all the 10,000 cars left on the company's books when it collapsed in April last year. The administrators also sold the MG Rover assets at Longbridge to Chinese carmaker Nanjing Automotive. It was not yet possible to put a final figure on the amount of money which would be recovered. "We still have some claims and disputes between different companies within the group to resolve.

"We will be paying a dividend this year. It won't be this side of the summer but we would hope to make a distribution before the end of the year."

The first MG Rover creditors to receive a payment are likely to be in Belgium, within three months. In what PwC sees as a ground-breaking development, it persuaded creditors of the eight European MG Rover companies to have the administration centred on Longbridge rather than in separate countries, speeding the process.