Oceana’s CEO, Imraan Soomra, has resigned as the company struggles with accounting problems.
Oceana, which owns canned fish brand Lucky Star, along with other fish production and cold storage assets, has delayed the release of its results for the year to end-September several times, and the JSE has warned that the company’s listing could be suspended or removed if it fails to submit its annual report by 28 February.
Oceana began delaying the release of the results following a whistleblower’s queries regarding the financials of its US operations – specifically the accounting treatment of the group’s 25% shareholding in New Orleans-based company Westbank Fishing.
Then, last week, Oceana suspended its Chief Financial Officer and announced a further delay in the release of its results after its auditor PwC flagged an issue with an insurance claim.
On Tuesday, Oceana said that Soomra “voluntarily submitted his resignation on the terms provided for in his contract of employment”. He will leave the company at the end of February. He has been with Oceana since 2013, when he was appointed financial director. He became CEO in 2018.
Neville Brink has been appointed as interim CEO. Brink has been with Oceana for 24 years and is managing director of Oceana’s Blue Continent Products.
Accounting issues
Last week, Oceana said that PwC raised concerns about the dating of signatures on an internal document relating to a $4 million (~R60.5 million) insurance claim. The auditors are concerned whether the claim should have been recognised in the previous financial year.
With regards to its US operations, the fishing company said it had concluded the investigation on the issue and found no evidence of “fraud, misappropriation or loss of funds or management of override of controls arising from any of the matters raised”.-fin24
