Shareholders in the Go-Ahead Group will have to wait until the end of this month to see the transport group’s financial statements for year ending 3 July 2021, which should have been published on 3 January
Go-Ahead Group and its auditors, Deloitte, announced on 9 December that they needed additional time to finalise the company’s audited financial statements for the year ended 3 July 2021, which meant that it would not be possible for the company to publish its full year results by 3 January.
As 3 January 2022 was the last date permitted for publication of the full year results under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the FCA’s Listing Rules, following consultation with the FCA, the company requested that the listing of its ordinary shares and its 2.50% Guaranteed Bond be temporarily suspended with effect from 0730hrs on 4 January.
The company said it intends to request a restoration of the listing of its ordinary shares and its bond on publication of its 2021 results, and that it continues to work closely with Deloitte to ensure that the they are published as soon as possible. This is expected to happen before the end of January 2022.
The delay is believed to be due to the Southeastern rail franchise, a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group, with a 65% share, and Keolis UK (35%), being stripped from it in October 2021 and passing to the Government’s SE Trains division, a wholly owned subsidiary of DfT OLR Holdings Limited, after Go-Ahead admitted to serious errors and failures in the way it ran Southeastern.
The group also failed to declare more than £25 million of historic taxpayer funding which should have been returned, Go-Ahead apologised to the Department for Transport (DfT) and said in December 2021 that the DfT is expected to impose a financial penalty on the group under the Railways Act 1993. It said the full amount was unclear at the time, but it was considering the inclusion of a provision in its 2021 financial statements. Go-Ahead Group Chief Financial Officer Elodie Brian resigned after the Government’s decision to take over the franchise was announced.
Shares in the group had closed down 1.55% at 667p on 31 December, the last trading day before the suspension request.
