SA Express won’t table results after failing auditor’s test

Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said she won’t table the SA Express annual report for the 2015/16 financial year by the deadline on Friday as the airline failed to satisfy the auditor general's solvency and liquidity test.

In a letter to the Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete on Thursday, Brown said she is not in a position to table the SA Express annual report including the audited financial statements for the 2015/16 financial year by September 30, 2016.

In terms of the Companies Act, SA Express has to demonstrate its ability to continue operating on a going concern basis for at least 12 months after tabling its financial statements by satisfying the solvency and liquidity test set.

However, Brown said that SA Express “has yet to satisfactorily demonstrate such ability to the auditor general”.

“As a result the audit cannot be completed in order to finalise the 2015/16 annual financial statements.

“The annual report and financial statements will be tabled as soon as the going concern status of the airline has been resolved and the audit has been concluded,” she said.

SA Express has a R1.1-billion state guarantee to keep it going, a similar situation to that of South African Airways, whose R14.4-billion guarantee was extended by another R4.7-billion this month after Treasury announced a new board for the battling state-owned entity.