Writedown costs Coast company dearly

writedown in the value of its assets.

BPS Technology cofounder and director Tony Weise, who was also CFO, and director Brian Hall, who co-founded Bartercard, resigned last Thursday from their positions.

In a statement to the ASX, the company said the resignations were part of its ongoing restructure, prompted last year when a minority shareholder group attempted to oust the board.

An audit of financial statements for the past three years found consultancy fees totalling $262,260 had been paid to a company run by Mr Wiese and Mr Hall, Broni International, but the fees had not been included in the company’s director remuneration reports.

BPS lost more than $23 million of its share value in the wake of the announcement, diving from 48.5c on Wednesday to a year-long low of 29c by Friday. The price rallied to close at 31.5c yesterday.

The company, which recently partnered with Chinese e-commerce giant Alipay, has yet to declare the final shareholdings of the outgoing directors.

BPS also slashed its expected earnings for the first half of the financial year to $2.7 million, down from previous guidance of $4 million to $4.5 million.

Its first-half results will be reported tomorrow.

The company has reissued its director remuneration reports, which excluded consultancy fees paid over three years to Broni International.

CEO Iain Dunstan has been appointed to the board as managing director, while newcomer Darius Coveney has taken on the combined role of CFO and COO.