THE Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has given Trustco Holdings Limited until the end of this month to submit provisional financial statements or risk being booted off the bourse.
This comes after business mogul Quinton van Rooyen’s company failed to submit its provisional report timeously within the three-month period as stipulated in the listings requirements.
The company, however, said there was nothing it could do to have the financials ready on time, and is blaming the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Trustco, one of its audit team members tested positive for the virus, and a delay in test results led to the entire team being unable to travel to Namibia from South Africa to conduct the audit.
Though appearing to be legitimate, it is unsure whether the JSE would accept Trustco’s excuse.
The company further said there was also a delay in the processing of work visas, and the audit team was not able to conduct the necessary work in Namibia.
In an announcement yesterday, Trustco said the financial statements would be released on 31 January – two days after the JSE’s deadline.
“Even with setbacks, it is estimated that the provisional annual financial statements for the 18-month period ended 30 September 2020 will be published by 31 January 2021 or soon thereafter,” read Trustco’s statement.
The company’s troubles at the JSE appear to be mounting.
Last year, the bourse told Trustco to correct its financial statements and remove specific ‘errors’ that pushed up profits by a combined N$2,1 billion.
The company has, however, maintained a stiff neck, saying its books are clean and there were no errors. It was also not willing to effect the corrections requested by the JSE.
Trustco then indicated it wanted to challenge the instructions.
It is a battle of who knows accounting standards better – Trustco’s experts and auditors claim the correct application of standards were followed, while the JSE experts claim there is wrongdoing that needs to be rectified.
With the new reports on delayed financials, this could spell trouble for Windhoek’s uptown Elisenheim development owner.
According to an announcement by the JSE last Friday, Trustco failed to submit financials, and “if the company still fails to submit its provisional report on or before 29 January 2021, its listing may be suspended”.
Additionally, auditors and directors last year resigned at group and subsidiary level, partly due to audit fees and familiarity risks.
Trustco has, however, appointed new auditors at group level, but is yet to do so for the Namibian companies after BDO Namibia threw in the towel following 20 years of giving the company clean audits.
Some of the errors around the N$2,1 billion that Trustco was told to correct relate to companies that BDO audited and for which they signed financial statements off.
Apart from the Elisenheim development, Trustco operates in three segments: insurance and investments, resources, and banking and finance.
The business owns companies such as Trustco Bank, Meya Mining in Sierra Leone, the Northern Namibia Development Company, and Morse Investments, which was accorded export processing zone status.
Last year Trustco became the first Namibian company to list in the United States, and it is unclear how its brawls with the JSE will affect its standing there.
Truscto’s shares on Friday were trading at N$3,47.
Email: lazarus@namibian.com.na
Twitter: @Lasarus_A
