PARIS (Reuters) – Technology services company Solutions 30, whose business practices have been criticised by hedge fund Muddy Waters, said on Friday it could de-list its shares and that accountants EY (Ernst & Young) had not signed off its accounts.
Solutions 30, whose shares have been suspended from trading since May 10 and is under pressure from France’s financial regulator to publish its 2020 results, said it was considering appointing new auditors.
“The group’s annual report will be published after receiving EY’s final audit report. As a result, the company is still unable to provide a precise timetable for the publication of this report,” Solutions 30 said in a statement.
The company, which has corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and shares listed on the Paris stock market, added it planned to hire investment bankers to find long term shareholders.
“The project, which the company does not intend to comment on beyond its legal obligations to do so, could go as far as a delisting”, Solutions 30 said.
Despite accountants having not signed off its accounts, the company confirmed its 2020 financial results released on April 28 with revenue up by 18%.
Officials at EY Luxembourg could not be immediately reached for comment, but the accountancy firm told Reuters earlier in the week that it could not comment on the situation due to client confidentiality.
Solutions 30 has asked Euronext Paris to resume trading in its shares on May 24.
The company, which has a stock market value of around 1.1 billion euros ($1.34 billion), said in January that it had decided to file a defamation suit over criticism made by hedge fund Muddy Waters regarding its business practices.
Muddy Waters said it had not been served notice of any defamation suit against it by Solutions 30.
Solutions 30 has more than 11,000 service engineers who handle tasks such as cable installations and general technical support, according to its website.
($1 = 0.8214 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Matthieu Protard, editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
