By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The management of one of Nigeria’s leading insurance service providers, Linkage Assurance Plc, has announced that it would now file its 2016 audited financial statements on or before Sunday, April 30, 2017.
In a statement issued by the firm and signed by its Secretary, Mrs Kehinde Ayodele, it was explained that this delay is as a result of the “challenges encountered during the 2015 audit exercise following the delay in the approval of the Annual Accounts of a private company where linkage Assurance Plc holds unquoted shares accounting for over 75 percent of our investment portfolio.”
According to Linkage Assurance, this delayed the approval and publishing of its 2015 Accounts and also protracted the holding of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) which eventually held on Tuesday February 7, 2017.
“Consequently, our newly appointed External Auditors, KPMG, following the completion of the statutory five (5) year tenure of Akintola Williams Deloitte (AWD), could not commence work until the ratification of their appointment at the referred AGM,” it explained further.
Linkage Assurance said the delay in the commencement of the audit exercise for the 2016 Accounts necessitated its application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) seeking an extension of one month beyond the regulatory due date of March 31, 2017 within which to file the 2016 Audited Accounts, which has been approved.
However, the insurance firm said it was “working diligently to meet up with the statutory deadline” of March 31, but sought for the extension to “avoid putting the company in a dire situation” in the unlikely event that the Accounts was not ready for filing by the regulatory due date.
Linkage Assurance has therefore urged “all our esteemed shareholders and the general public to remain confident as there is no cause for alarm” and reiterated its commitment to operational excellence, due diligence, and best-in-class financial practice.
Adedapo Adesanya