6th Nov 2015 09:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - International Ferro Metals Friday said the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has extended the period by which the company must hold its annual general meeting as the company continues to sort out its troubled South African subsidiary.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, a financial regulator, has said the company must hold its annual general meeting by the end of January 2016.
The AGM has been delayed as International Ferro has been trying to resolve ongoing issues with its South African subsidiary, which in turn has delayed the company publishing its results for the financial year ended June 30, 2015.
The company has previously said the full year results will be issued in December 2015, after it has released the business rescue plan for its South African subsidiary. A company cannot hold its AGM until its results are published as the company and shareholders have to endorse the results each year, meaning it had to secure an extension.
The South African subsidiary which has caused the issues, International Ferro Metals (SA) (Pty) Ltd, entered into a business rescue back in September due to its "deteriorating business conditions" that were out of the company's control. At that time, the company said the subsidiary was "financially distressed".
A Business Rescue is a statutory means of enabling a financially distressed company to continue in business, under the supervision of a business rescue practitioner, protected from its creditors. It means creditors who are trying to reclaim funds for whatever reason can not do so without going through the practitioner, who will try to implement a plan to resolve the financial issues at the company.
Back in September, the practitioner said there was a "reasonable prospect" of rescuing the subsidiary, most likely through the sale of assets, the entire business or equity in the business, adding that it would take two to three months to open up a bid process, which could be accelerated by chasing up parties that have already shown interest.
As a result, creditors agreed for the release of the business rescue plan to be pushed back to November to allow time for that bid process to be opened.
Whilst the business rescue is being conducted, the subsidiary has shut down all of its furnaces and mining operations and International Ferro Metals requested for its shares to be suspended.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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