Braemar shares to be suspended as investigation into 2013 case delays annual results
Despite readying its books for what it maintains will be record results, the British shipbroker, Braemar, has conceded it will likely have to suspend its shares on the London Stock Exchange due to delaying its annual results over an investigation into a 2013 transaction.
Braemar said that the company’s auditors have been carrying out an investigation over the past two years into a particular transaction of circa $3m, which originated in 2013 and involves payments being made through to 2017.
According to a London Stock Exchange filing, the company “is not presently comfortable with the manner in which the transaction has been historically represented and the remaining liability recorded in the company’s balance sheet.”
Upon conclusion of the investigation, should this liability be released, it would not affect the underlying trading profit or cash position of the company for FY23.
The investigation is still ongoing and Braemar appointed FRP to assist with the investigation and established a specific investigation committee chaired by the company’s non-executive chairman, to oversee the matter.
As a result of this investigation, the company’s final FY23 results will be delayed until this work has been completed and will not be published by June 30, 2023, as required by the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Since Braemar won’t be able to comply with this requirement, it will request that trading of the company’s ordinary shares be suspended from July 3, 2023.
“The company will provide further updates on expected timings for publication of its FY23 results in due course. The company expects to request a restoration of the listing of its ordinary shares on publication of its FY23 results,” Braemar explained in the LSE filing.
Braemar reconfirmed its expectation of reporting record revenue and record profitability for FY23, with revenue for the year of not less than £150m ($190m) which is nearly a £50m increase when compared to the £101.3m from 2022. The underlying operating profit will not be less than £20m, double that of the £10.1m in 2022. The company believes that it will have £6.9m of net cash at year-end.
The British shipbroker intends to recommend a final dividend of 8 pence per share, up from 2022, to shareholders for approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting, representing a dividend for the year of 12 pence per share, a 33% increase over the previous year.
