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(Alliance News) - The UK's Financial Reporting Council on Monday said it supports the request made by fellow regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, for all London-listed companies to postpone the release of their annual results for at least two weeks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The FRC said the basis on which companies are reporting and planning is changing rapidly due to the virus spread.
At least 341,000 people have contracted the novel coronavirus around the world and over 14,700 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. In the UK, confirmed cases have totalled 5,683, with 281 deaths.
Financial markets around the globe have recorded huge losses and swings due to the virus pandemic. Stock prices in London opened firmly in the red on Monday as fears of a global economic meltdown from the coronavirus mounted, prompting company after company to stop shareholder returns and apply the brakes to spending.
The FTSE 100 index was down 4.2% at midday.
"It is important that due consideration is given by companies to these events in preparing all reporting. The FRC therefore encourages listed companies and their auditors to consider carefully whether they should delay other corporate reports for the next two weeks, such as interim financial statements and final audited financial statements, except where necessary to meet a legal or regulatory requirement," the corporate governance regulator said.
The FRC is in talks with the FCA and the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority regarding a package of measures aimed at ensuring companies and their auditors take the necessary time to prepare appropriate disclosures and address current practical challenges and the three bodies intend to announce details shortly.
The FCA, which regulates the financial services industry in the UK, at the weekend had made the request to companies due to produce preliminary financial statements in the next few days to delay publication. The watchdog had urged all listed companies to observe a moratorium on the publication of preliminary financial statements for at least two weeks.
A number of companies on Monday said they will delay their results following the regulatory requests. Among these were home improvement products retailer Kingfisher PLC, greeting card retailer Card Factory PLC, and soft-drinks maker AG Barr PLC.
Others include:
-Tonic water maker Fevertree Drinks PLC delayed the release of its 2019 results, which were had been slated for Tuesday. The company said it has made a solid start to 2020, with trading in the first two months in line with the board's expectations, with the US in particular seeing strong trading. It says it is too early to quantify Covid-19's impact on 2020. Fevertree noted it is debt free and has GBP128 million in cash. Shares were down 3.0% on Monday.
- Oil & gas producer RockRose Energy PLC also delayed 2019 results, planned for Thursday. The company will issue a revised results announcement date following FCA's guidance, it said. Shares were down 15%.
- Financial services company CPPGroup PLC delayed the release of its 2019 results, pending further advice. Shares were down 14%.
- Consumer healthcare firm Integrated Diagnostics Holdings PLC delayed 2019 results, previously slated for Thursday. It said it has not seen any disruption to its core operations in Egypt due to the virus spread. It has not suffered any interruption of testing kit supply and currently has a stock of three months of kits for its most-used test types. The company's business in Jordan is currently carrying out reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction tests for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. IDH enjoys a solid liquidity position, it said with a cash balance of EGP706 million, around GBP39 million, as of end of February. Shares were down 6.1%.
- SDX Energy PLC, a Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan-focused oil and gas company, has delayed the release of its 2019 results but will release them as soon as possible. Shares were down 3.8%.
- Information management software company Idox PLC delayed the publication of its results for the financial year ended October 31, 2019. These were earlier scheduled for Tuesday. The company's financial 2019 results remain in line with the board's expectations. Shares were down 4.9%.
- Housing and social care provider Mears Group PLC delayed its 2019 results that were scheduled for release on Tuesday. The company said it remains confident of reporting 2019 results in line with current market expectations and its January guidance. Shares were down 1.7%.
- Oil rig construction firm Lamprell PLC has agreed to follow the FCA's request and defer the release of its 2019 results, which will not now be issued this week as planned. The company plans to issue a new results date in due course following FCA's further guidance, it said. Shares were down 8.5%.
- Financial services company STM Group PLC has decided to adhere to FCA's request to delay the release of its 2019 results, initially scheduled for Tuesday. STM said it expects to report 2019 revenue of GBP23.0 million, reported pretax profit of GBP3.8 million, and underlying pretax profit of GBP2.5 million. Shares were down 4.8%.
-Gulf Keystone Petroleum PLC will delay the publication of its 2019 results, which were scheduled to be released on Thursday, to a date that will be determined as soon as possible. Gulf Keystone will provide an update on its operations on Tuesday. Shares were down 8.9%.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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