Business
The troubled water treatment firm has been granted additional six months to announce its unaudited financial statements for the second quarter, and three more months for the third quarter.
(Photo: Jeremy Long)
SINGAPORE: Embattled water treatment firm Hyflux said on Sunday (Jul 8) that it has applied for and received extensions from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX ST) for the announcement of its upcoming quarterly financial reports.
In an SGX filing, the mainboard-listed firm said it has been given six more months to put out its unaudited financial statements for the second quarter, as well as an additional three months for the third quarter report.
Both financial reports were supposed to be announced no later than Aug 14 and Nov 14, respectively.
Hyflux said the extensions were requested on Jun 28 and approved by the SGX ST on Jul 6 subject to two conditions.
For one, it has to announce the extensions granted, and the reasons and conditions they are subjected to. Hyflux also needs to submit a written confirmation that the extensions do not contravene any laws and regulations governing the company, as well as the articles of association of the company, according to the SGX filing.
On why it needed the extensions, the local firm said since it made the application on May 22 for court supervision over its business and debt reorganisation, there has been “a standstill on the payment of all pre-May 22, 2018 debts”.
It is also facing stringent controls on the usage of its cash, such as only paying critical expenses relevant to the reorganisation.
With the company still negotiating reorganisation terms under a court-supervised process and a six-month moratorium granted by the High Court on Jun 19, the release of financial statements before in-principle agreement of any agreement terms or clarity on the main terms of any financing proposals may “result in inaccurate and incomplete reflection of financial information”.
“It is anticipated that the ongoing discussions surrounding the reorganisation will require at least the time for which the moratorium is granted, and it will only be meaningful for the company to start to prepare the relevant financial statements only when it has certainty regarding the terms of the reorganisation and any financing proposals, which is expected to take additional time,” it said.
Earlier this week, Tuaspring – the Hyflux subsidiary that owns the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Plant – withdrew an application for a debt moratorium after reaching an agreement with its only secured creditor Maybank.
Among other conditions, the agreement required Hyflux to “execute a binding agreement” with a buyer for the loss-making Tuaspring plant by Oct 15.
