Less than two weeks after announcing its audited full-year results, construction company Lend Lease has had doubts about their accuracy.
Today, the company announced to the Australian Securities Exchange that its board and senior management have found “discrepancies” relating to the profits and losses of two projects run by its subsidiary, Abigroup.
The announcement says information was not received by the board, senior management or the external auditor, KPMG, about the group’s “full share of available profits” from a joint venture in Queensland and that “certain costs” had not been appropriately accounted for from a project in Victoria, which means the anticipated loss from the project may be inadequate.
A number of Abigroup executives will be stood down while Lend Lease investigates, the announcement says, and Lend Lease’s senior management has taken control of Abigroup, the announcement says.
Lend Lease says the numbers will not have a “material effect” on its 2011-12 results or its financial position. On August 30, the group announced a net profit of $501.4 million, up only 1.7% from $492.8 million the previous financial year.
