Chellarams risks N9m fine for late submission of financial report

Chellarams Plc risked a N9 million fine by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) after external auditors hired by the food and beverages company failed to produce financial report before the deadline.

The company’s Audited Financial Statements for the year ended March 31, 2021, is expected to be submitted 60 days after the end of the quarter.

But three months after the deadline, Chellarams has failed to send the report across to the industry regulator.

In a notice to the investing public and the NSE, the company said there would be a slight delay in the preparation of its financial report.

It blamed the external auditors for not meeting deadline.

“The delay was occasioned by the inability of our External Auditors to complete the Auditing and Accounting processes before regulatory deadlines due to unanticipated delays while carrying out our Group Audits,” the company said.

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Chellarams told the bourse the report would be made public before August 16.

But Ripples Nigeria checks on the company’s stock market portal showed that it has been struggling to submit its financials since 2016.

Late submission of financial reports to the NSE attracts a fine of N100,000 daily in the first 90 days of the infraction.

The charges will increase to N200,000 for another 90 days and it will rise to N400,000 per day after the second 90-day period ends.

The fine will continue until the defaulting company submits its financials.

If failure persists, the company’s stock could be suspended on the Nigerian bourse, thus sending red flags to investors and shareholders that investment in the affected firm is unsafe.

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