Still no definite news about what’s going on at Sigma Pharmaceuticals.
The company failed yesterday to meet its own self imposed deadline for an update on trading by the start of trading yesterday.
It actually asked that its shares be suspended from trading for an indefinite period.
"The suspension is necessary as Sigma expects to make an announcement to the market in relation to revised earnings guidance for the year ended 31 January 2010," Sigma said in a statement to the ASX on Monday.
"Sigma expects to make an announcement to the market concerning the revised earnings guidance before the expected date for the release of its preliminary final results."
Sigma shares closed at 90 cents on Friday.
Media and market reports suggest the company is having difficulties with "accounting issues" to quote several people and reports.
These will require end of year adjustments to its January 31 accounts.
The first suspension request last Thursday wasn’t clear, but media reports have suggested that the accounting issues will impact 2009-10 earnings.
If this was the case, the company would have felt it had to update the market as soon as these were confirmed.
Just why it couldn’t make its own deadline on yesterday morning is worrying.
If the problems with the accounts are so bad that it will take days to straighten them out, what’s it say about the quality of the management and the board supervision?
Fairfax Media ruled out "at this stage any concerns the financial problems are linked to misappropriation of funds or its recent acquisition of a pharmaceutical brand portfolio and manufacturing facility from global pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb".
Sigma reported a 4.9% rise in net profit to $32.2 million for the six months to July 31.
Revenue rose 3.5% to $1.54 billion.
The company had forecast a modest increase in 2009-10 profit.
