Rebosis ‘strongly disagrees’ with JSE censure

Rebosis Property Fund is unhappy about the censure it received from the JSE on Tuesday concerning a compliance issue linked to the group’s handling of its 2019 financial results.

The group, led by property entrepreneur Sisa Ngebulana, responded to the censure in a Sens statement on Tuesday afternoon.

“Rebosis notes the public censure issued by the JSE regarding the breach of paragraph 3.22(b) of the JSE listings requirements resulting from the publication of preliminary results for the financial year ended 31 August 2019 (“the 2019 Financial Results”) that were not, at a minimum, reviewed,” it said.

However, the group pointed out that the 2019 financial results were clearly titled ‘unaudited’.

“Rebosis strongly disagrees with the JSE’s conclusion that the company made a conscious decision to publish unreviewed and unaudited results due to differences between the company and its auditors in the determination of Rebosis’ investment property valuation for the 2019 financial results,” the company said.

Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, which is the property fund’s JSE sponsor, is also entangled in the JSE’s censure of the issue.

The JSE issued separate censure statements on Tuesday for each group. Nedbank is yet to comment on the censure of its corporate and investment banking division.

Meanwhile, Rebosis noted in its Sens statement that its board of directors “depend on several parties to keep it informed of relevant JSE listings requirements” and stressed that its 2019 financial results were “transparently published as being unreviewed and unaudited”.

“On becoming aware of the lapse in complying with the JSE listings requirements, the sponsor [Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking], following engagement with the company [Rebosis] post the release of the 2019 financial results, proactively informed the JSE of the matter and the company launched its own investigation into the causes of the oversight,” it added

Rebosis said the investigation ultimately resulted in the replacement of its Audit and Risk Committee chair and its chief financial officer, as well as a change in audit partner.

Read: R114m puts Ngebulana back on top as largest Rebosis shareholder

“Following the board’s subsequent replacement of key incumbents and implementation of additional processes, Rebosis successfully resolved the dispute with its auditors and an unqualified audit opinion was expressed on its most recent financial results for the year ended 31 August 2020,” it pointed out.

Rebosis said its board and management remain committed to good corporate governance, as demonstrated by the actions taken.

The company added that it has streamlined internal measures and policies to ensure ongoing compliance with the JSE listings requirements.