DURBAN - Agri-processing company Tongaat Hulett yesterday said it would postpone its return to the JSE until it had released its trading update for the six months to end September.
Tongaat, which applied for the voluntary suspension of its listing in June, said it expected to issue the trading guidance next month.
On Tuesday Tongaat released long-awaited results for the year to end March, reporting a headline loss of R923million compared to a restated loss of R947m in 2018. The group said its revenue declined 2percent to R17.07billion.
“The September 2019 trading statement will provide more recent financial information,” the group said.
The group said it was considering civil claims against the senior executives fingered in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, which would also involve actions to recover bonuses and benefits paid.
The group said it would also make applications to court for orders declaring relevant people to be delinquent directors or otherwise incapable of occupying fiduciary positions.
Chief executive Gavin Hudson said that the group was engaging the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to lift the suspension of its share price.
However, the board said it viewed the suspension as a temporary measure until the company was in a position to provide sufficient further information to the market.
“It is expected that the suspension will be lifted no later than the time of release of the March 2019 financial statements,” Tongaat said.
The board said it also believed that greater visibility on the company’s financial performance was important, given the extent and complexity of remedial actions, internal
cost-cutting plans and other
restructuring initiatives undertaken by the board and management since March.
The group reported a R11.89bn reduction of equity after PwC completed its forensic investigation, which revealed the overstating assets and profits by using “undesirable accounting practices” by its former 10 executives.
The group said the additional period of time will also allow investors a longer period in which to analyse the March 2019 financial statements, especially important given the festive season is near.
“The 2019 financial statements include a variety of detailed disclosures in respect of restatements and other accounting related matters and are necessarily more complex than is typically the case with annual financial statements,” the group said.