PwC takes close look at Amulet
The administrators of the Amulet Group and its subsidiary, the Accident Group, have said they will be carefully examining the accounts as they handle the insolvency of the collapsed insurance provider.
Link: Accident Group faces claims probe
Among the company’s financial matters, the PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Michael Horrocks and Craig Livesey will be looking at balance sheets that show Amulet paid dividends of £11.4m to shareholders for 2001 and 2002.
The 2002 accounts, signed off by auditors from KPMG last December, reveal that Amulet paid £7.6m in dividends when it had profits of £9.8m, leaving it with a retained profit of £2.2m. In the previous year, the company paid out £3.8m of dividends on a loss of £793,000, resulting in a bottom-line loss of £4.6m.
The dividends paid out refer to a ‘note 10’ in the account, which stated that the dividend was paid in instalments in September and October 2001.
It also said that the total dividend payment was made with the help of £3.4m of reserves from the Accident Group.
However, the accounts for 2002 state Amulet had a retained profit of £2.2m. PwC administrators said: ‘In the course of our duties, we will be reviewing all the financial details of the company and we would take whatever steps we deem necessary.’
PKF’s head of business recovery Phillip Long said: ‘It seems very strange that such an apparently profitable company has been forced into administration so soon after the accounts to August 2002 have been made available.’
PwC administrators were called in to deal with Amulet on 30 May.