Trustco’s shares suspended from JSE
JOHANNESBURG – Namibian financial services, property and mining company Trustco has been suspended from the JSE after a court dismissed its appeal against a finding by the local bourse that it wasn’t properly complying with accounting standards. The firm announced the suspension in a statement on Monday, and its shares had fallen by 16 per cent to 41c in early-morning trade before the notice was issued, valuing it at R791 million.
The JSE ‘proactively’ started investigating Trustco at the end of 2019. By November 2020, its probe had found that Trustco’s financial statements did not comply with International Financial Reporting Standards or the JSE’s own listing requirements.
As News24 reported earlier in the year, the probe found that Trustco had incorrectly booked a gain of R1.5 billion after its founder, South African-born Quinton van Rooyen, waived two loans he made to the group.
It ordered Trustco to restate its financials, which would have decreased the group’s profit.
But Trustco refused, arguing it had done nothing wrong. It also contended that JSE did not have the power to compel listed companies to restate their results. The JSE then threatened to suspend its shares.
Trustco appealed the JSE’s decision to the Financial Services Tribunal, which dismissed its review application. It also took its case to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in a bid to overturn the tribunal’s verdict.
On November 7, the court dismissed Trustco’s application with costs, which triggered the suspension of shares.
In the wake of the ruling, Trustco said it would restate its financials as ordered by the JSE.
Van Rooyen said it was ‘unfortunate but necessary’ that a court order was required to override the ‘bona fide actions and representations of our independent board and auditors’.
“With this court order, we will comply to restate our financials as directed by the JSE,” he said in a statement.
The company expects its trading suspension to be lifted once it restates its financials.