黑洞社区

Troubled housebuilder Inland Homes is suspending its shares and delaying its results for a second time to investigate 鈥渞elated party issues鈥�.

In a trading update this morning, the AIM-listed firm said its board was in the final stages of commissioning a report to investigate the issues and 鈥渙ther relevant matters鈥�.

As a result, the company said it was 鈥渘ot in a position to publish its audited results before 31 March鈥�.

AIM rules stipulate Inland鈥檚 audited results must be published by the end of March, which means its shares will be suspended from Monday 3 April.

This is the second time its annual accounts have been delayed after saying last month accountant PwC needed more time to complete its audit.

Inland Homes also announced it is considering raising up to 拢5m through new shares at a nominal value of 10p per share.

Newly appointed chair Matthew Robinson, a chartered accountant, is leading the work to find options for completing the audit and possible changes to internal management procedures, Inland said.

The suspension of the shares also comes after the resignation of three other board members, Simon Bennett, Carol Duncumb and Brian Johnson at the start of the month after the 鈥渞elated party issues鈥�, which have not been disclosed, were revealed to auditors.

In January the firm revealed a deteriorating housing market and ballooning construction costs had led it to revise the amount of pre-tax loss it expected to post in 2022鈥檚 accounts to more than 拢90m from 拢37m.

Last September, it said it would make a loss of around 拢37m for the year, which led to the resignation of the company鈥檚 founder and chief executive, Stephen Wicks. His replacement, former Galliard boss Don O鈥橲ullivan resigned after just over a month in the job. The housebuilder has previously said Wicks may return to the firm but this is as yet unconfirmed.