Vietnam real estate developer Novaland has announced that it is ending its relationship with tax agent Price Waterhouse Cooper. The company has said this is because the firm has been slow auditing financial statements which has seen Novaland reports to the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange delayed though it seems to be a lot more nuanced than that.
Of note, in September, Novaland recorded its worst half year on record after audited financial reports found huge discrepancies from what was earlier reported by the company. Specifically, the company’s own financial statements reported a profit of VND 3.5 trillion or US$142.2 million, however, an audit found the company had actually made a loss of VND 7.3 trillion or US$296.6 million. This the company largely blamed on its auditors being overly cautious.
Dan Tri has also picked up a slew of conflicts between the developer and its accountants over the last could of years. These have mostly stemmed from Novaland making a number of assumptions in its reporting rather than relying on facts which the auditor has.
Furthermore, PWC will be replaced by Moore AISC Auditing and Informatics Services. This is a local firm at which, CafeF notes, at least three auditors have been suspended this year from auditing public interest entities by the State Securities Commission.
See also: Vietnam’s Real Estate Industry