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22 Apr 2013 07:04
22 April 2013
For Immediate Release
Bumi plc ("Bumi" or "the Company")
Bumi plc requests temporary share suspension pending finalisation of results
On 12 April 2013 Bumi announced that further work with regard to the completion of its financial results for 2012, and in particular a review of the integrity of a number of items on the balance sheet of its subsidiary PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk, was continuing and that as a result there was a likelihood that the publication of these results would need to be delayed beyond 24 April 2013.
It is now clear that Bumi will not be able to publish audited full year results before the end of April 2013, being the latest time permissible under the UK's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
After consultation with the UK Listing Authority, Bumi has requested that trading in its shares be temporarily suspended with effect from 07:30 today until the publication of these results. Bumi expects that this suspension will be lifted on publication of results. The Company's priority and focus is the production of results at the earliest possible date in May.
The new management team at Berau is overseeing a full audit review and, as previously announced, certain expenditures relating to hauling roads and land compensation payments in 2012 will not be capitalised and will be treated as costs. No significant additional issues have been identified to date.
Berau management is now fully verifying all existing material contracts and has an action plan in place to complete this review allowing publication of audited results. The team is working closely with PwC, its auditors, as well as with Ernst & Young, hired as consultants to provide expertise and resources to expedite the process in order to ensure that all legacy issues are identified and disclosed.
This review is not expected to have any impact on on-going operations. The mines continue to perform in line with expectations and a number of cost-saving initiatives, in particular a significant reduction in strip ratios, are already yielding results.
The separation from the Bakrie Group and Bumi Resources is on track and a circular will be sent to shareholders to approve this transaction as soon as possible. In addition, the process of appointing a new independent chairman is well advanced and a number of candidates have been interviewed.
Nick von Schirnding, chief executive of Bumi, said, "We are taking all necessary steps to create a clean and transparent company with a balance sheet in which investors can have confidence. Verifying the balance sheet is a necessary step to rebuild investor trust and to achieve that a temporary suspension in trading is required. It is critical that Bumi is able to draw a line under any historic issues before we move ahead with our clear strategy for value optimisation focused on Berau. "
-Ends-
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RLM Finsbury
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