Iron ore miner Ferrexpo to probe charity partner over financial discrepancies
London-listed iron ore miner Ferrexpo said today it was probing the accounts of a Ukrainian charity that helps run its corporate social responsibility programme.
Ferrexpo said the charity, Blooming Land, has sent copies of its bank statements to its auditors Deloitte which had discovered “unexplained discrepancies”.
Ferrexpo said it was launching a “comprehensive independent review” to help uncover the reasons behind the discrepancies.
Blooming Land is a Ukrainian charity which was set up to co-ordinate Ferrexpo's corporate social responsibility programme and provide medical and social services throughout the country.
Ferrexpo donated $9.5m (£7.3m) to Blooming Land in 2018.
The company said it intends to announces its 2018 financial results on 20 March.
It said it cannot guarantee that the review will be complete by then, or complete favourably.
Its auditor Deloitte has said it may qualify or “otherwise modify” its audit opinion relating to the 2018 accounts if this is the case.
Ferrexpo said it expects its full-year 2018 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be approximately $500m (£382.5m), down from $551m last year.
Ferrexpo's shares fell 7.6 per cent to 242p this morning.