10th Oct 2018 08:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Patisserie Holdings PLC were suspended on Wednesday after the company said it discovered "significant and potentially fraudulent" accounting irregularities.
The cafe chain, which owns the Patisserie Valerie brand, said that the irregularities "may lead to a material change in its overall financial position" as they could imply a material mis-statement of the firm's accounts.
The company, which operates from over 200 stores across the UK, requested its shares be suspended from trading on AIM in London while it conducts an investigation into its "true financial position".
Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Chris Marsh has been suspended from his role, although the company made no accusation of wrongdoing against him at this stage.
Chairman Luke Johnson, who is also the company's largest shareholder with a 70% stake, said: "We are all deeply concerned about this news and the potential impact on the business. We are determined to understand the full details of what has happened and will communicate these to investors and stakeholders as soon as possible."
Earlier on Wednesday, Sky News reported about the suspension stating that the hole in the accounts could be "over GBP20 million".
For the financial year ended September 30, 2017, the cafe owner and cake seller said pretax profit rose 17% to GBP20.2 million from GBP17.2 million the year prior. Revenue grew 9.7% to GBP114.2 million from GBP104.1 million the year before.
In the six months ended March 31 of this year, Patisserie reported pretax profit of GBP11.1 million, up 14% from GBP9.7 million year-on-year. Revenue grew 9% to GBP60.5 million from GBP55.5 million in the same period a year ago.
Related Shares:
Patisserie Holdings Plc