By: Mark Fitzgerald Hollinger International is now backing off assurances made earlier this month that it would report its long-delayed 2003 annual financial statement by Dec. 31.
In its latest status report to the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada, the owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago-area and Canadian community papers said it is still poring through the 513-page report from an internal investigation that alleges some $400 million in improper payments, fees and insider deals were pocketed over a seven-year period by former Chairman and CEO Conrad Black, former Sun-Times Publisher F. David Radler, and other key Hollinger executives.
"The company believes that it needs additional time to review the report of the Special Committee of the board of directors of the company established to investigate allegations raised by certain shareholders of the Company and to assess, together with the auditors of the Company, its impact, if any, on the results of operations of the company before the company can complete the filing of the financial statements ... and the [Annual Information Form] in question," Hollinger International said in a statement, referring to disclosures required by Ontario securities laws.
In its earlier bi-weekly status update, released Dec. 13, Hollinger International said it expected to have its 2003 annual reports released on or before Dec. 31, and its also-overdue reports for the first three quarters of 2004 by sometime in the first quarter of 2005.
Peter Lane, Hollinger International's vice president and CFO, did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
The reporting delay by Chicago-based Hollinger International reporting delay will in turn delay the release of financial information from Hollinger Inc., the holding company controlled by Black that holds an approximately 68% voting and 18.2% equity interest in Hollinger International.
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