REDCENTRIC PLC (RCN)

REDCENTRIC PLC (RCN)

Blog posts

Redcentric Shareholders to Get Their Day in Court

This article represents the views of its author, not necessarily those of ShareSoc. Four years after defects in the published accounts of Redcentric plc (RCN) came to light, a trial of those accused of false accounting and other offences is finally to take place. Law360 reports: ...Fraser Fisher, former chief executive of Redcentric PLC, and the company's ex-chief financial officer, Timothy Coleman, denied charges that they had falsified financial documents and lied to an auditor between 2015 and 2016 when they appeared at ...

Redcentric: Unprecedented Progress for Shareholders – At Last

Two Cheers for the FCA in the Case of Redcentric Two cheers for the FCA: they have achieved a positive outcome for shareholders affected by the case, and have been pragmatic, albeit after a very long time. It is also good to see the other objective of our campaign potentially achieved - of prosecuting individuals for their alleged misdemeanors. Such actions are essential to deter others from criminal activity. Background Redcentric has been an extraordinary case. They key issues at the time when serious ...

Redcentric (RCN) Campaign: Important Developments

There have been important developments in our campaign regarding the accounting scandal at IT service group, Redcentric. Firstly the FRC have moved at "lightning speed" (by their usually interminable standards), and published their findings in little more than two years after the matter was brought to their attention. And secondly there is news on the parallel FCA investigation in Redcentric's recently published annual results for 2018/19. FRC Report The FRC concluded that Redcentric's auditors, PwC, did not meet expected professional standards in their audits ...

The trouble with net debt…

Net debt is a vital metric for investors and lenders. What ultimately kills companies is when they are unable to pay their debts when due. Hence, measuring the ratio of net debt to profits (and cashflow) is crucial to judging a company's ability to pay and whether it is likely to find itself in trouble, potentially leading to a permanent loss of capital for investors. Therefore it is very troubling that there have been several instances in recent years where reported net ...

FRC to Investigate Redcentric Audit

Further to ShareSoc's campaign regarding accounting irregularities and related matters at Redcentric (AIM:RCN), I am delighted to see that the FRC has launched an investigation into the audit of Redcentric's accounts by PWC: https://www.frc.org.uk/News-and-Events/FRC-Press/Press/2017/February/Investigation-in-respect-of-PricewaterhouseCoopers.aspx The FT also reports on this investigation today, coming hot on the heels of PWC's embarrassment at the Oscars ceremony: https://www.ft.com/content/4e710e1e-fcfc-11e6-8d8e-a5e3738f9ae4 This article highlights that PWC is also under investigation in relation to audits of BHS; Barclays compliance; Connaught and RSM Tenon. It has already been sanctioned in respect of ...

Aero Inventory – Deloittes Fined

There was a brief mention of the latest news on Aero Inventory in the recently issued ShareSoc Informer Newsletter, but here are a few more details. False accounts are a common problem in AIM companies (Aero Inventory and Globo are just two examples apart from the recent case of Redcentric). Let us hope the auditors of Redcentric (PWC) take note of the recent record fine imposed on Deloittes of £4 million in relation to their audit of Aero Inventory, plus £2.3 million ...

Red Faces at Redcentric

Events As a (modest) shareholder in Redcentric, I was shocked by yesterday’s announcement: www.investegate.co.uk/redcentric-plc–rcn-/rns/accounting-misstatements/201611070700094407O/ Redcentric plc (AIM:RCN), a leading UK IT managed services provider, announces that an internal review...

AGM Reports

Redcentric (RCN) AGM 2018

Redcentric’s annual report and the AGM resolutions were relatively uncontroversial, but, in my view, there is unfinished business from the serious accounting misstatements that affected the report and accounts for the year ending March 31 2017. There were only four shareholders present, and I was the only one to ask substantive questions. I first complimented the board on the actions they had taken to stabilise the business in the previous 12 months and to present the report and accounts with improved ...

Redcentric plc (RCN) AGM 2017

I attended the AGM on 4th September, held at the offices of Redcentric’s legal counsel, CMS. Approximately 5 individual shareholders were present, including campaign group members Bruce Noble and Arman Khan, as well as myself. All board members were in attendance. There was no presentation from the chair or CEO, but there was an extensive Q&A session before formal voting on the resolutions. I raised some questions concerning the disposal of fibre networks announced in September 2016, as part of Redcentric’s key USP was ownership of its ...

ShareSoc News

Former Redcentric Directors Jailed

After a 3 month trial, verdicts have been reached in the prosecution of former Redcentric directors by the FCA. The FCA announced that the former Redcentric CFO had been sentenced to 5½ years imprisonment for two offences of making false and misleading statements to the market, and three offences of false accounting. In addition, the former Finance Director who had pled guilty was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment on charges of making false statements and false accounting. These former directors will also ...

Campaigns

Redcentric (RCN)

This campaign is now closed On the 7th November 2016, out of the blue, Redcentric plc published a shock announcement disclosing the discovery of misstatements in the company’s accounts. Unsurprisingly, this announcement precipitated a collapse in the company’s share price from 150p to 63p that day (it had previously traded as high as 200p earlier in 2016 and has subsequently recovered somewhat). The announcement, and subsequent announcements, combined with previous events raises serious concerns for shareholders in Redcentric. On behalf of individual shareholders, ShareSoc is ...

Corporate Remuneration Reports

Redcentric Remuneration Report

There is a full write up by Mark Bentley here https://sharesoc.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/red-faces-at-redcentric/, but I thought members should have a specific comment from me on their remuneration. Firstly, we have share trades by Redcentric’s CEO: On 24th June Fraser Fisher exercised 200,000 options at a price of 70p and sold them all at 180p, realising a gross gain of £220,000 On 9th September he exercised a further 285,000 options at 70p and sold them all at an average of 182p, realising a further gross gain of ...