Stanbic IBTC Holdings announces delay in release of 2015 Audited Report

By Chioma Obinagwam

Stanbic IBTC Holdings has said there would be delay in the release of its 2015 audited report due to the  reporting challenges it has with the Financial Reporting Council(FRC) of Nigeria, an organization charged with setting accounting standards and enforcing compliance in Nigeria.

According to a statement issued by the company to the  Nigerian Stock Exchange, it said: “We would like to advise  NSE as well as our esteemed shareholders and stakeholders that from available indications we are unlikely to complete our 2015 audit and issue our annual report before 31 March 2016 as required by The NSE Rules (the Rules).”

“As a result of the reporting challenges experienced with the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) in 2015, we have been in discussions with our External Auditors about the details of the appropriate presentation of certain items in our Financial Statements, which are the subject of the ongoing legal proceedings,” it continued.

It noted that it has sought the approval of NSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) to file its 2015 Audited Financial Statements outside of the time period specified by the Rules, while it works towards the timely conclusion of the 2015 audit exercise.

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“Our aim is to conclude all required regulatory requirements and file our Audited Financial Statements with The Exchange on or before 31 May 2016,” the company revealed.

The group also mentioned that it was recently served with a Motion on Notice filed by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) at the Court of Appeal seeking an Order of Injunction which relates to certain aspects of our 2015 Financial Statements.

The FRC, in its application to The Court of Appeal, attached a document purported to be the “Consolidated and Separate Annual Financial Statements of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc for 2015”.

“We would like to categorically state that the 2015 Audited Financial Statements of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc have not been approved by our Board or our Regulators. Accordingly, this purported document was neither issued by Stanbic IBTC; nor signed by our External Auditors; or authorised by our Board,” it indicated.

” We believe it is necessary to bring this issue to the attention of our stakeholders because we are mindful of the fact that, once the FRC’s Motion was filed at the Court of Appeal, this purported document became a public document and it is possible that extracts of misleading price sensitive information contained in the document could come to the attention of the public. We are therefore advising the public to disregard any such information or document that may be brought to their attention,” it added.