Lucky Star Wwner Finally Releases Results After Forensic Investigation

Oceana released its results on Wednesday after a long delay.

• Oceana has finally released its full-year results after a five-month delay.

• The company delayed the release of the results after a whistleblower raised concerns about the accounting of US-based Westbank Fishing.

• Oceana will release its interim results by June 2nd.

  

Fishing group Oceana has finally released its annual results for the year ended September 30, 2021, after a delay of almost five months.

Oceana delayed the release of the results after concerns from a whistleblower about the accounting treatment of US-based Westbank Fishing. The company initiated a forensic investigation conducted by ENSafrica.

Last month, Oceana's auditor, PwC, raised another concern, this time regarding the dating of signatures on an internal document for a US$4 million (~R60.5 million) insurance claim, leading to another delay.

“ENS Forensics conducted a comprehensive review and was unable to confirm any further impact on the consolidated financial statements as a result of the backdating of insurance claims. However, the investigation has identified other cases of backdating, although none of these cases affected the year-end financial statements,” Oceana said in its findings on Wednesday.

The group said it is “serious” about backdating the document and will take disciplinary action and training to address the issue.

Oceana added that the investigations concluded that none of the issues investigated resulted in financial losses and there was no evidence of fraud or criminal conduct.

According to the results, the Lucky Star owner's group revenue fell 8.1% to R7.6 billion, from R8.3 billion in 2020. Oceana attributed the decline to lower sales of canned fish, fishmeal and fish oil, as well as reduced commercial warehousing back Utilization and a stronger export exchange rate on sales converted to US dollars.

Profit before tax fell to R1 billion from R1.1 billion in 2020 and total earnings per share fell to 550 cents from R628.4 in 2020.

The company declared a final dividend of 248 cents per share.

Oceana was also the subject of an investigation by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) as to whether “any person has made false, misleading or misleading statements, promises and forecasts regarding the past or future performance of the company or its securities”.

The group said it is waiting for the investigation to be completed and is working with the FSCA.

The Fishing Group has also seen major changes in its leadership team in recent weeks with the precautionary suspension of its CFO Hajra Karrim, the resignation of CEO Imraan Soomra and the resignation of company secretary Adela Fortune.

The group is nearing the end of its half-year, which ends on March 31st. Findings included a trading update saying gains will be 20% lower than the 2021 interim period.

Oceana will release its interim results by June 2nd.