Spotless has questions to answer

Spotless is the latest private equity deal to see its shares plummet. But there are some questions to be asked over its disclosure. Fresh off the heels of Dick Smith’s $60 million write down of its inventory, commercial caterer, cleaner and all-round annoying jobs doer Spotless (ASX:SPO) has announced that 2016 should see its EBITDA remain flat and net profit fall 10% due to writedowns relating to bid costs and acquisitions. Spotless shares finished Wednesday 40% lower than the previous close and are down almost 5% today. That news has been well communicated. What hasn’t are the very interesting questions regarding the company’s disclosure. On Thursday 22nd October the company held its annual general meeting, during which chair Margaret Jackson announced that the company expects ‘FY16 results to materially exceed the FY15 results’. In its trading update on Wednesday, this same claim was made but the word results was changed to the words revenue. That’s a little odd don’t you think? As for the other results, you could say that they were expected to be materially worse. Continue reading: (VIEW LINK)