| Ernst & Young | 22-Feb-19 | 01-Nov-23 | | (a) due to a significant reduction in audit fees proposed by the Company after the date of annual general meeting, the Company and Ernst & Young were unable to reach a consensus as to the audit fees for the year ending 31 December 2023. Ernst & Young has, as a result, neither been formally engaged by the Company for the audit of the financial statements for such financial year nor has it commenced any related audit work; (b) a certain portion of the audit fees owed by the Company to Ernst & Young for the year ended 31 December 2022 remains overdue and unsettled, which in Ernst & Young’s view, may impact its independence according to paragraph R410.13 of the Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants issued by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and which issue also raised concerns on whether the Company would be able to settle its audit fees for the year ending 31 December 2023 should a consensus on such fees be reached; and (c) with reference to the Announcements, the Company continues to be delinquent in publishing the 2023 Interim Results and despatching the 2023 Interim Report to the Shareholders within the timeframe required under the Listing Rules, as additional time is required to complete the outstanding matters as described in the Company’s announcement dated 25 September 2023. The Company has not indicated the expected date by which it is able to do so. Furthermore, Ernst & Young has learnt from the management of the Company that there has been certain changes to the personnel of the finance team of the Company. In view of the above, there were concerns on the part of Ernst & Young as to the Company’s ability to timely and accurately prepare its financial statements and underlying evidence, and for Ernst & Young to satisfy its obligation as the auditor of the Company to timely execute and complete a quality audit for 2023. |
