London-listed shipbroker Braemar has pushed back its annual results again following an investigation into legacy transactions that caused its shares to be suspended in July.
The independent internal probe has now been completed, the London shop said.
But Braemar added: “The resulting actions relating to the historic transactions identified in the investigation have, however, taken slightly longer to implement than previously anticipated.”
The results are now expected to be published in mid-November, with the interim report for the first six months of the current financial year due shortly after that.
Braemar missed the 30 June deadline for the accounts relating to the 12 months to the end of February, and the company applied for a trading suspension.
The last company update in September said publication was intended before the end of October.
“The board expects to seek a restoration of the company’s listing after the publication of the FY23 results,” Braemar said.
The broker continues to trade in line with expectations, it added.
Underlying operating profit, excluding foreign exchange movements, for the first half of the current year is expected to be at least £7m ($8.45m), down from £8.9m the year before.
“The board also remains confident in the outlook for the second half of the financial year,” a filing to the stock exchange revealed on Thursday.
Profit forecast unchanged
Previous guidance for the year to 28 February 2023, remains unchanged, with revenue expected to be upwards of £150m, against £101.3m 12 months before.
Profit should be at least £20m, up from £10.1m in the financial year 2022.
Dividends will rise 33% to 12 pence per share.
Last month, Braemar revealed it was examining more legacy transactions.
In June, the brokerage had said it was looking at one £3m deal from 2013, for which payments were being made up to 2017.
This was widened to focus “on a small number of transactions which were carried out between 2006 to 2013”.
The group’s shares were suspended on 3 July at the company’s request.
The stock closed at £2.33 on the last day before the suspension, 16% down from £2.79 before the announcement in June.
The share had gone as low as £2.20 on 26 June, the day it announced the deal investigation. Braemar was trading at £2.42 a year previously.
The company was under the leadership of chief executive James Kidwell in 2013. He retired in 2019.
“The board is not presently comfortable with the manner in which the transaction has been historically represented and the remaining liability recorded in the company’s balance sheet,” Braemar said on 26 June.
