Ayo Technology Solutions will not release its audited annual financial results for the year to end-August 2024 by the end of January due to delays in finalising the audit.
The company, which is valued at about R147m on the JSE, said the delays were due to the resignation of the group’s joint external auditor, Thawt Inc, in October 2024, which caused unavoidable disruptions to the audit process and the appointment of a new CFO in December, which required additional time for assurance over financial reporting.
Another factor cited for the delay was the completion of the external quality review process, which necessitates additional time for thoroughness and quality assurances, which its auditors, Crowe JHB Inc, are committed to completing.
“Ayo acknowledges that it has been unable to release its financial results within the prescribed period stipulated in the JSE listings requirements,” it said in a statement on Friday.
Ayo has engaged with the JSE and given assurance of the board’s commitment to its compliance with the bourse’s listings requirements, and remains committed to publishing complete and accurate financial results.
The results are expected to be released around February 14.
The company initially intended to release the audited financial statement by January 16, before announcing a further delay to the end of January as the audit process was still under way.
Controversy has surrounded Ayo for several years.
It faces a legal challenge from a minority shareholder who holds 0.13% of the company’s shares and is seeking to have it wound up.
The application was lodged in the Western Cape High Court by the shareholder who is believed to be acting as the executor of his late father’s estate. It is reported to relate to the depreciation of Ayo’s shares, prompting the move to seek the company’s liquidation.
Ayo is opposing the application, calling the claims “unfounded, opportunistic and entirely devoid of merit”. The group argued that the application was a deliberate attempt to harm its reputation and manipulate public perception for financial gain. It said the application was based on a misapplied and narrow interpretation of the Companies Act and hinged on speculative reasoning.
Ayo said its share price fluctuations were part of the inherent risks associated with investing in listed companies.
Earlier in 2024, Ayo and African Equity Empowerment Investments (AEEI), another company associated with business-person Iqbal Survé, came close to having their shares suspended from the JSE after both failed to release their annual reports within the prescribed time period.
Ayo also courted public attention when it was fined R1.5m about a year ago by the JSE for lack of transparency. At the time, the JSE said Ayo had failed to publicly disclose money that was moved between related companies. The fine related to Ayo, its holding company and major shareholder AEEI and transactions with asset manager 3 Laws Capital.
Ayo’s reputation was also sullied when the Mpati commission of inquiry into the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) showed in 2020 that the asset manager’s subscription of shares in Ayo was grossly overvalued. The PIC and Ayo have since resolved the matter.
With Nompilo Goba and Mudiwa Gavaza
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