- Natural resources royalty business, Anglo Pacific Group PLC (TSX:APY), has withheld its 2019 annual report
- The report was scheduled for release on March 25, but the UK-based Financial Conduct Authority has requested a two-week moratorium on preliminary financial reports
- The moratorium will allow companies to accurately adjust for the recent market disruptions caused by COVID-19
- Anglo Pacific has not announced a new release date and is awaiting further guidance from the FCA
- Anglo Pacific Group PLC (APY) remains steady, with share trading for C$1.99 and a market cap of $361.1 million
Natural resources royalty business, Anglo Pacific Group PLC (TSX:APY), has withheld its 2019 annual report, a day before the planned release.
The company is withholding the release after the Financial Conduct Authority announced a moratorium last weekend. The FCA is based in London and regulates the conduct of publicly listed companies.
The FCA has requested that all companies observe a moratorium on preliminary financial statements for the next two weeks. Essentially, The FCA is asking companies to withhold their financial filings for the next fortnight.
Anglo Pacific is dual-listed on both the TSX and the London Stock Exchange and therefore its TSX releases have been impacted by the UK-based request.
The FCA has made this request due to the highly volatile market conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Companies have seen rapid change in their markets recently. The FCA hopes this moratorium will allow more time to register the fallout and adjust accordingly.
However, it must be pointed out that the FCA’s request regards preliminary financial reports only. Anglo Pacific has used this moratorium to justify withholding their final financial results one day before they were due to be released.
Yet the FCA specifically states that this does not apply to final results, which have to be published within four months of year-end. Preliminary results are not required to be published and companies often release them considerably earlier than four months.
The FCA is currently in talks with relevant governing bodies about new measures to allow companies more time to process their results. These unannounced measures could affect final financial result deadlines.
Anglo Pacific Group PLC (APY) remains steady, with share trading for C$1.99 at 10:16am EST.