UMORU ABDULKADIR
The Management of C&I Leasing Plc has notified its shareholders, stakeholders, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the general public, that the Board of the Company has been duly informed of a likely financial error in the Audited Accounts of its Ghana subsidiary, Leasafric Ghana Limited (Leasafric).
The Company disclosed this on Monday through a statement signed by its Secretary, Mbanugo Udenze & Co and filed to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
According to the statement, Leasafric is a non-bank financial institution incorporated in Ghana in 1992, to carry on the business of finance leasing as its principal business. C&I Leasing Plc., a group of companies involved in the business of fleet management, outsourcing and marine services, and listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), owns 71% equity stake in Leasafric, and the subsidiary contributes about 10% to the group’s financial performance.
It stated that in view of the latest development, the Board of Directors of Leasafric Ghana will meet on Tuesday, 10th December 2019 to review the matter and will notify all regulators including the Bank of Ghana and carry out a special investigation into the circumstances surrounding the likely errors in the Audited Accounts.
The statement reads in part, “While the exact amount in question will be ascertained by the ongoing investigations, we estimate that the write-off of the amount may not have any material impact on the group’s net earnings for 2019.
“Nevertheless, we assure all the stakeholders and the investing public that C&I Leasing Plc. is resilient and well-diversified to cushion any likely impact of the financial error. The company has also begun putting adequate measures in place and strengthening its existing risk controls framework to prevent a recurrence.”
The statement noted that the company’s detection of the financial error was as a result of its effective implementation of the Company’s robust corporate governance framework which is closely monitored by the Board, adding that the company was committed to ensuring the continued full and effective implementation of the framework.
The statement said, “in spite of the likely impact on our profit target for 2019, we are optimistic that with our exceptional track record in major sectors of the economy, we expect to meet our profit targets for 2020 and beyond.
We, therefore, do not envisage that this event will have any material negative impact on C&I Leasing Plc.’s on-going rights issue.”
Formed in 1990 as a private company, C&I Leasing Group PLC is a Nigerian public limited maritime company. It was converted into a public company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in 1997.
Its subsidiaries include, Leasafric Ghana Limited, EPIC International FZE, C&I Petrotech Marine Limited
Comments are closed.