Bangkok--11 Dec--Master Mind Communications
L.V. Technology Public Company Limited (LVT), the MAI-listed engineering consultancy firm specializing in the cement industry, has taken an important step towards resolving its longstanding auditing problems by appointing Dr. Wirach & Associates Company Limited to conduct a “special audit” on its 2013 accounts.
LVT’s board of directors last week approved the appointment of Dr. Wirach & Associates “to find out the facts” regarding some 13 points of disclaimers raised by the company’s previous auditor ASV & Associates (ASV) which related to various aspects of the LVT’s financial transactions with its affiliates and joint ventures in several foreign countries.
The “special audit” to clear up ASV’s disclaimers, which will take about 2-3 months, g is necessary before the new auditor could begin auditing LVT’s books from Q1 of this year which has been held up since ASV had terminated its service after completing the qualified 2013 financial statements. The auditing delays have caused the LVT stock to be suspended for long, intermittent periods since last year.
LVT’s senior management has welcomed the appointment of Dr. Wirach & Associates as an important step that will resolve the company’s longstanding problem of auditing delays. “We are pleased to work with our new auditor and confident that together, we’ll be able to clear up all the doubts raised by the previous auditor so that the suspension on our stock would be lifted and normal trading could resume,” stated LVT chief executive officer Vichai Tantikulananta.
The auditing firm of Dr. Wirach & Associates is chaired by Dr. Wirach Apimethithamrong, a well-respected senior personality in Thailand’s audit industry who among other things was formerly Dean of Chulalongkorn University’s Accountancy Faculty. “We are confident that our new auditor will provide high-quality services that are correct and fair,” Mr. Vichai stated.
The successful appointment of the new auditor came after the LVT management had earlier called on the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to tackle the growing shortage of certified auditors which has caused a lot of problems for small listed firms such as LVT. These problems ranged from the difficulty to find an auditor willing to do the job, high fees and long delays.
The number of listed firms has kept growing following a long succession of new IPOs but the number of audit companies has remained constant at 25 while all certified auditors in this country just number around 180.