Blow to Barclays as Very Group auditor quits
DELOITTE has quit as the auditor of Very Group after struggling to access financial information, dealing a fresh blow to the Barclay family.
The “big four” accountant’s resignation was revealed to creditors by Very Group yesterday, piling further pressure on the Barclays’ empire, which also includes The Telegraph.
After overseeing Very’s accounts for the past 11 years, Deloitte said it resigned after struggling to access “appropriate and relevant information in respect of certain financing arrangements between companies in the wider group”.
Like other assets owned by the Barclays, Very Group’s structure is spread across a web of different companies, with the ultimate owner based offshore.
Deloitte said some of these companies “are either not audited by the same audit firm or are unaudited”. Accounts for Shop Direct Holdings Limited, the top company in the group based in the UK, have been overdue since the end of last year, according to Companies House.
Very is yet to appoint a new auditor, but said in a statement that “Deloitte has consistently provided clean, unmodified audit opinions and Very Group continues to perform strongly”.
It added that “all the necessary information” was provided to Deloitte and that Very’s accounts “were filed on time and with an unmodified audit option”. Deloitte also said that it had resolved the difficulties it had accessing information, but it nevertheless wished to resign.
The firm’s exit prompted an immediate sell-off in Very Group bonds due in 2026, as they slid more than 3pc to 85p in the pound. This is the lowest level since November. Falling bond prices tend to indicate market uncertainty that debt will be repaid.
The total borrowing of Very’s web of companies is more than £2.5bn. It last month secured a £125m lifeline from Carlyle and Abu Dhabi-based International Media Investments (IMI), which both appointed representatives on its board. Very sells goods ranging from clothes to footwear. Half-year results recently revealed that sales rose by 0.6pc to £1.27bn from May to December 2023.