WANdisco Plc, a UK enterprise software provider, warned it had uncovered “sophisticated” accounting irregularities days after the British software firm said it was considering listing in the US.
(Bloomberg) — WANdisco Plc, a UK enterprise software provider, warned it had uncovered “sophisticated” accounting irregularities days after the British software firm said it was considering listing in the US.
The company requested trading of its shares, which are listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, be halted pending the outcome of an investigation with outside legal council, WANdisco said in a statement Thursday. The suspected irregularities were in regard to purchase orders from one senior salesperson, it said.
WANdisco’s senior executives found “potentially fraudulent irregularities” in booking software sales during an internal probe, leading the company to warn anticipated revenue for the 2022 fiscal year could drop as low as $9 million from the previously reported $24 million, according to the statement.
A representative for the company declined to comment further.
WANdisco’s shares had gained 42% so far this year before trading was suspended, closing at 1,310 pence on Wednesday.
WANdisco sells data management services to other businesses, competing with companies such as Cloudera Inc. Sales had declined steadily since 2018, falling from about $17 million to $7.3 million in 2021.
On March 6, WANdisco, which has offices in England and California, said that it “in the early stages of proactively exploring” an additional listing in the US. That announcement came after UK chipmaker Arm Ltd. said it was planning to list in New York in a blow to London markets.
(Update with shares in fifth paragraph.)
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