Cadbury fears £10m Nigeria hit
Analysts speculate on cost of Nigerian accounting issues
Analysts are speculating that Cadbury Schweppes’ accounting issues at its
Nigerian subsidiary could
hit the company with a £10m bill.
The confectionery giant announced this week that it had called in a team from
PwC to investigate an overstatement on the books of its separately listed
Nigerian arm.
‘We’re predicting the overstatement will be in the region of £10m,’ one
analyst said, stressing that the suggestion was a ‘ball-park figure.’
Cadbury called in PwC after the new FD of the Nigerian arm, which made net
profits of £6m in 2005, discovered overstatements in respect of current and
prior years, with the company declining to put a figure on how much it expected
the problem to cost it. It is not known what the problems relate to.
A Cadbury spokesperson told Accountancy Age that its announcement
had been vague because the investigation was ongoing.
Further reading:
Cadbury appoints independent
auditor for African probe
European ruling in Cadbury
case sparks tax relief fears