Monday 1 March 2010

CEC's serial failure to get accounts in on time

Beleaguered Cairns construction giant, CEC has again failed to get accounts in on time.
CEC has again been suspended from trading this morning for failing to lodge its half yearly results with the ASX before the end of February deadline.
They were similarly suspended this time last year while they resolved an “accounting issue”. No explanation has been revealed yet for this delay.
It's worth noting from the most recent on 16th February "media release," [see right] marked "for personal use only", describes its property sales in Gordonvale and says that CECs problems were turning around.
However, with such sloppy reporting, it's just not a good PR look.

8 comments:

Sammy Davis said...

They did do a quick release before open saying that the reason again was an “accounting issue” and they expected to lodge results by Friday!

KitchenSlut said...

I had thought my life over as a financial ranter in Cairns after the collapse of Tom Hedley. Still sadly admired by many who lost a fortune!

However todays failure by CEC to ldage a simple return simply reinforces that there is a problem in the Cairns business community simply not recognised from within!It is a failure of standards which replicates over the entire community including service industries such as restaurants where my personal postings are obvious.

It is also an exhibition of contempt which brings our community here into national ridicule! Standards in Cairns fail again and again while we pretend to ignore that this doesn't matter because we are somehow special.

I have previously had respect for Roy Lavis above other Cairns shonks but am now losing patience fast in their integrity as distinct from any financial assessment!

Roy? Where is the board restructure following the ditching of the appalling Greg Kern as the financial person as previously indicated? Wasn't this flagged some time ago? What does your son contribute on the board? Is Chairman Hartnell an asset given his background as a witness for the disgarced and subsequently gaoled Rod Adler ? Why was Rob Borbidge ditched as Chairman apart from his appalling and disgraceful record as a company director, are there any reflections here on your own personal judgement? Why doesn't the board currently comply with ASX governance compliance guidelines after so mush effort was creditably put into getting this right and then let go?

None of these would matter if you just started doing some basic things right. Todays announcement suggests contempt for people who have backed you!? I'm disappointeded personaly in you and CEC reflecting poorly on Cairns!

Unknown said...

You didn't mention Wazza (Fat-Boy) Enstch, who is hoping the souffle will rise twice. Enstch is touting a bridge over the inlet to East Trinity ostensibly as his solution to south-side traffic congestion (a quick look at the map will show that option to be the most expensive and least effective of all so far canvassed). CEC, however must be salivating at the thought of all that rural land suddenly in easy reach of Cairns and ready to be rezoned and carved up into 400 m2 blocks just in time for the next boom. Gives new meaning to the term, 'Our man in Canberra'.

CBD Warrior said...

Where is CEC spin doctor Andrew Griffiths in all of this? Why isn't he in there pitching his religious message "she'll be right" to the sound of angels singing?

Just a week ago the Compost ran Griffith's latest spin from CEC management telling us all how they've dodged the global financial crisis. Now they can't even get their books in order. Good Job, Andrew! You've continued to gut your already shallow credibility.

KitchenSlut said...

Damn too much Pinot Noir again sorry for typos but thanks Lillian and yes!

The odd dichotomy of Wazza Entsch on the board of a company apparently extolling the virtues of the Rudd stimulus (note: KS is a critic of the stimulus but not for the reasons the LNP are spruiking)while standing for a party ranting the reverse and an illogical debt scare is decidedly strange to any logical person?

The problem is that the CEC board is weak and needs bulking up and input particularly on the financials. Clearly there is a problem here and the audit committee has not done its job? The last AGM also revelealed some problematic failures in ASX corporate governance releases.

Last time the alleged 'accounting issue' was never specifically revealed when the accounts were released. Perhaps this time, Andrew, CEC can do the right thing and specifically reveal the 'acounting issue' with the accounts?

Lainey said...

You only have to pour over the financial statements of the group since 2007 to see that CEC group has been making consistent and quite heavy losses since before the GFC. At this point in time the group owes tens of thousands of dollars to contractors and business suppliers all over town. Many businesses have halted trading with CEC and others have only been paid after taking legal action. Some accounts are over 6 months in arrears. Unfortunately the directors of the group will jump at any opportunity to relay any snippet of good news (no matter how insignificant) and in doing so deliver a kick in the guts to those people owed money by them and hanging out for payment. They have only survived by selling large volumes of assets so now the company's net worth is way less than it should be and so those shares people bought at $1 each several years ago are now only worth 20 cents (and will fall more once the financial report overdue is released and shows another huge loss)

KitchenSlut said...

CEC has again failed to release the half yearly accounts by the previously suggested deadline today. Instead they released an announcemnt 2 minutes after the market closed that it could be next friday again, but that they are working on the "critical accounting issue" at the heart of the problem! I just can't wait for details on that "issue"?

Lainey said...

Why oh why does Roy Lavis continue in his scamming of the people in Cairns. The release of the company's financial report form 3 months ago is now 2 weeks and one day late. The report is going to be very comical, I'm predicting it will have a fairy tale of epic proportions in the covering letter with glowing predictions for the future but inside will show another drop in asset values and of course a huge loss of profit. And of course, to counteract the backlash from shareholders Mr Lavis and his PR team have a tale of good times to come in todays Cairns Post, who the heck are they paying off in the Cairns' Post ??And will the same paper publish the results from the grossly overdue financial report?