Delta Property Fund’s Board of Directors have advised shareholders that the company has suspended the listing of its shares.
This follows a forensic investigation by Mazars into alleged procurement irregularities and the misappropriation of funds by senior executives and Delta’s subsequent engagement with its auditor, BDO South Africa Incorporated which led to the withdrawal of the audit opinion (by the auditor) in respect of the company’s financial statements for the year ended February 2020 and, the board of directors’ subsequent withdrawal of the 2020 financial statements.
As a direct result of the withdrawal and the continued investigation, Delta’s board of directors engaged with the JSE to consider a suspension of the listing of the company’s shares. In a recent SENS announcement, Delta cited that “unfortunately, the JSE could not approve such a request for reasons for the suspension did not fall within any of the circumstances contained in paragraph 1.10 of the JSE Listing Requirements (suspension at the request of an issuer)“.
However, due to the withdrawal, the JSE initiated the suspension provisions with immediate effect. These are set out in paragraphs 1.6 and 1.7 of the JSE Listing Requirements.
Delta’s board supports the suspension with the aim to protect investors and to enable accurate price information. It believes that the suspension is in the best interest of its shareholders and company.
This is viewed as a temporary measure until the company is positioned to publish audited, restated 2020 financial statements and the interim results for the six months ended on the 31st of August 2020.
Based on preliminary feedback from the auditor, the board is targeting the publishing of the 2020 financial statements and the interim results by no later than the 28th of February 2021 whereby the board will apply for the suspension to be lifted.
