Braemar Shipping Services will finally unveil last year’s results on Tuesday 30 August after delaying publication twice from an original expected date near the end of May.
The London-listed shipbroker said it would deliver strong trading results for the year ended 28 February 2022, and forecast further improvement this year due to “exceptionally strong trading” in the current period.
Braemar said the delay in publishing results was “caused by the auditors and the board reviewing the accuracy of certain foreign exchange and other balance sheet reserve accounts of the business”.
Chairman Nigel Payne said Braemar has largely completed an analysis of these areas over the past three years and identified some predominantly historic adjustments.
But he said the adjustments have not had any negative impact on the underlying profitability or cash flows of the business that have been previously reported.
“Indeed, the adjustments identified in fact result in an overall increase in the net assets of the balance sheets of the group over these periods,” he said.
Payne said further details will be provided when Braemar publishes its full results and updates on current trading on 30 August.
He added that the new board had made “substantial progress in laying the foundations for growth, clarifying Braemar’s strategic direction and substantially increasing its profitability” over the past 18 months.
Loss-making businesses have been closed and costs reduced, the core shipbroking business has been expanded and bank debt reduced to near zero, he said, with dividend payments restored on a progressive basis.
In July, when Braemar revealed it was delaying publication of its results for a second time, it also said its refocus had resulted in a number of complex transactions that contributed to the delay.
The main sticking point was the deal to sell Cory Brothers, announced on 1 March.
Vertom Cory Holdings had agreed to buy the subsidiary for between £10.25m and £15.5m ($12.3m to $18.6m), spread over three earn-out periods ending on 31 December 2024.
In May, Braemar said guidance for the year that ended in February 2022 remained at £9.8m or above after a March update.
It added then that its underlying operating profit for the 12 months to 28 February 2023 was expected to be at least £12m.
