PETALING JAYA: The new external auditor of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd did not express an opinion on the group’s financial statements ended June 30, 2021.

       Nexia SSY PLT, which was appointed to replace former auditor KPMG, said it was not able to obtain “sufficient appropriate audit evidence” to provide a basis for an audit opinion on the financial statements.

       This was mentioned in Serba Dinamik’s annual report for 2021, which was released after a long delay.

       Nexia said its audit procedures have been impeded by time limitations and the occurrence of additional significant events.

       Given the timing of its appointment, Nexia said it was not in a position to observe the counting of physical inventories at the end of the period.

       Nexia was appointed as the auditor for Serba Dinamik on Aug 3, 2021. KPMG, on the other hand, resigned on June 23 after it highlighted Serba Dinamik’s questionable transactions worth more than RM4.54bil.

       “Alternative means to verify the inventory quantities held at June 30, 2021 is still pending.

       “Additionally, there are significant matters which we require that are outstanding at the date of our report and we have not been able to compile sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for our audit opinion,” stated Nexia.

       It also pointed out that Serba Dinamik has triggered events of default for various contracts.

       The events of default indicate the existence of material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern, according to the auditor.

       Interestingly, Serba Dinamik chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Farid Abu Hassan said in the annual report that it is still business-as-usual for the group.

       He said the group’s key focus is to proactively source for new income streams or expand the scope of existing ones.

       Meanwhile, managing director and group CEO Datuk Dr Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah assured shareholders that the group will not “lie face down to admit defeat”.

       Last week, the Securities Commission charged Abdul Karim with furnishing a false statement to Bursa Malaysia. He was charged under Section 369(a)(B) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.

       This charge involved an alleged false statement in relation to the revenue figure of RM6.014bil contained in Serba Dinamik’s quarterly report on consolidated results for the period ended Dec 31, 2020.

       For the 18-month period from Jan 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, Serba Dinamik reported a net loss of RM175.84mil against a revenue of RM8.61bil.

       The negative bottomline was mainly due to a RM395mil impairment on receivables, a write-down on inventories worth RM552.59mil and a higher finance cost of RM332.84mil.