Lasaco Assurance Plc announced, yesterday, that its inability to meet the deadline for filing its audited FY 2019 financial statement is because of the unprecedented disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a public disclosure that was signed by the Company Secretary, Gertrude Olutekunbi, as seen by Nairametrics, the auditors working on the report could not meet up with the deadline because they were working remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The statement further disclosed that the auditors were finally able to submit the audited financial statement on June 2nd, 2020. In the meantime, the financial report is expected to be filed with the NSE, latest by June 29th, after the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) must have given its approval.
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“Lasaco Assurance PLC (the Company), hereby informs The Nigerian Stock Exchange, distinguished shareholders and the general public, of the Company’s inability to submit its Audited Financial Statements (AFS) for the year ended 31st December 2019 within the stipulated period.
“This unavoidable state of affairs arose out of the necessity of working remotely during the Covid-19 lockdown period. The conclusion of the audit was thus affected, as the Auditors were only able to present the Audited Financial Statements on Wednesday 2nd June 2020,” part of the statement said.
It should, however, be noted that this is not the first time Lasaco Assurance Plc is missing the regulatory deadline for filing its financial statement. An earlier report by Nairametrics noted that the insurer was among the companies that were recently filed by the Nigerian bourse to the tune of N150 million for various regulatory breaches.
More so, the Compliance Status Indicator Code for Lasaco Assurance Plc says “MRF”. This simply means that the company is guilty of missing a regulatory filing deadline.
Lasaco Assurance Plc is a Lagos-based financial services firm that offers insurance and brokerage services. The company has a market valuation of about N1.9 billion, according to information obtained from the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Its stock opened trading today on the Nigerian bourse at N0.26.
