KPMG resigns as an Auditor to Scandal Hit P& or Ferries

Unlock Free

Roula Khalaf, publisher of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

KPMG resigned as an auditor at P&O, saying that the factors that delayed the accounts of the Hit Company of the 2022 scandal had not been addressed and that it had completed very little work in the expired accounts of 2023.

In a letter presented to Companies House this week, the Big Four accounting firm said he would not be able to complete the company’s audit 2023 “on the required rule within the desired calendar of the management”.

He said this was partly because some of the “controllers” behind the presentation of P&O 2022 remained. Did not expose the reasons for the delay in the session of the accounts of 2022.

P&O had to submit their accounts from 2022 to September 2023, but several corporate group entities lost the term. The accounts of 2022 P&O Limited Ferries were not presented until February of this year, according to the sheets of the house of companies.

KPMG said in the letter that he had only managed to carry out a “very limited work” to the accounts of 2023 as a result of the P&O accounts at 2022.

The accounting firm said he considered the reason for his resignation to be reported to the company’s shareholders or creditors.

P&O has struggled for several turbulent years, including Covid-19 Pandemic, the impact of Brexit on freight flows and passengers, and the political fall of their controversial sacking of the United Kingdom staff in 2022.

The company has said that the decision to shoot about 800 of its crew from the United Kingdom and replace them with a cheaper agency staff with flexible contracts was driven by its dangerous financial position. Peter Hebblethwaite’s CEO, told a parliamentary hearing in 2022 that he deliberately “chose not to consult” the unions about redundancies.

The accounts published in Companies House, by 2022, showed that P&O received Hundreds of millions of pounds in loans From its owner dp World of Dubai to keep it on a fleet.

P&O was also “in breach of pacts regarding its foreign debt” by the end of 2022, according to the accounts.

P&O was bought by DP World in 2019, but it is owned by companies linked to the Dubai government for almost 20 years.

KPMG refused to comment. P&O said, “We thank KPMG for their services as auditors. P&O ferries is focused on presenting our 2023 accounts as soon as possible.”