Qualified opinions on 6 listed companies

From MSWG's weekly newsletter of May 8, 2015:

AUDITORS ISSUED QUALIFIED OPINIONS ON 6 COMPANIES LISTED ON BURSA MALAYSIA
 

No	Name of Listed Company	Date of Announcement	Auditor	Basis of Opinion (Salient Points)
1	NPC Resources Berhad	30 April 2015	Ernst & Young	Insufficient time to perform sufficient audit procedures as the audited financial statements of three foreign subsidiaries were only available close to the date of the financial statements of the Group were approved by the Board.
2	Silver Ridge Holdings Bhd	30 April 2015	Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng	Unable to obtain sufficient and appropriate audit evidence on the recoverability of receivable.
3	Stemlife Berhad	30 April 2015	Ernst & Young	i)  Non-compliance with the requirements of MFRS 4 (Insurance Contracts) for the assessment of insurance liabilities and revenue associated with insurance contracts; and ii) insufficient access to the financial information and management of an associate.
4	Wintoni Group Berhad	5 May 2015	SJ Grant Thornton	Unable to physically sight the Group’s computer equipment.
5	China Ouhua Winery Holdings Limited	30 April 2015 & 5 May 2015	Helmi Talib & Co.	Unable to ascertain whether the net recoverable amount of an asset acquired in China will exceed the total purchase consideration.
6	Ire-Tex Corporation Berhad	5 May 2015	UHY	Unable to validate the existence of sales of RM5 million to 2 related parties which were subsequently impaired.

MSWG’S COMMENTS:

It is a bit out of the norm though not totally surprising that within a short period of time there were 6 public listed companies where their independent auditors had qualified their opinions on their audited financial statements highlighting issues of concern for investors to take note.

 

It may also serve as a ‘red flag’ or early warning signal to audited financial statement readers particularly shareholders, investors and potential investors who may need to make more informed investment decisions.