Wed 15 Jun 2011 10:01

Baltic Oil shares suspended, accounts 'destroyed or removed'


Terminal operator says an attempt was made to replace financial records with falsified information.



The board of Baltic Oil Terminals Plc has today announced the suspension of trading in its ordinary shares on AIM - the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies - as it has now become clear that the company will not be in a position to send its audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010 to shareholders by 30 June 2011 as required under AIM Rule 19.

The suspension, which commenced at 7.30a.m. today, will remain in place until the group's annual accounts have been announced and posted to shareholders.

Commenting on its operations, Baltic Oil Terminals said its businesses were performing 'in line with management's expectations'.

"The company's operation in Rotterdam is 100 per cent let and generating significant cash returns. As at 13 June 2011, the group had GBP 1.875 million in cash and, apart from normal trade creditors, has no bank or other debt arrangements. The group's financial position remains robust and its operations continue to generate cash in line with management expectations," the company said in a statement.

In early 2011 the company made significant changes to the senior management team at its operations in Kaliningrad, Russia, which included the dismissal of a senior employee. Following these changes Baltic Oil Terminals says it became clear that some of the local financial records had either been destroyed or removed and an attempt made at replacing these with falsified information.

"The directors do not believe that these actions have led to any previous financial information reported to the market proving erroneous, however, the company has had to conduct an exercise to reconstruct the accounting records at its operations in Kaliningrad based on primary sources of information, in particular the receipts of inventory received into the terminals," Baltic Oil Terminals said.

The board of directors had expected that this process would have been completed by now. However, they are now of the view that this process, and hence Grant Thornton's audit of the Annual Accounts, will now not be completed by 30 June 2011.

"Following receipt of the initial results of the reconstruction of these accounting records, the directors remain of the view that the results for the year ended 31 December 2010 will be in line with market expectations. It is believed that the trading performance and financial position of the operations in Russia are not matters of uncertainty; rather it is the detail of the books and records and their current ability to be audited that is the issue," Baltic Oil Terminals said.

A further announcement on the matter is expected to made in due course.

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