6.02 Going concern and viability statements: a wrong maturity month, an incomplete maturity-year list and two wording slips
UK Company B · a UK-listed technology and logistics group · Drafting slip
In brief
[wording masked] give the maturity of the [amount] senior unsecured notes as [date], while the borrowings disclosures say [date]. The same paragraph says [wording masked] but then lists the [amount] convertible bond due [date], which falls in FY27. Two wording slips ('and and', 'base cases scenario') also appear.
The evidence, as filed
Further pages withheld to protect the company’s identity (five): Annual Report 2025, page 95; Annual Report 2025, page 164; Annual Report 2025, page 101; Annual Report 2025, page 96; Annual Report 2025, page 97. Their wording or layout could lead back to the company even with names and figures masked; the evidence list below records what each page shows.
Names, figures, dates, logos and any wording that could be searched back to the company are boxed out in grey; the point is highlighted in yellow.
What the report shows, and what the rule requires
| What the annual report shows | What the rule requires |
|---|---|
| What the annual report shows p.95: '[wording masked]' and '[date] ([amount] [name])'; p.96: 'the base cases scenario'; p.97: '[wording masked]'. | What the rule requires 'mature in FY26, FY27, FY29 and FY30'; '[date] ([amount] [name])'; 'the base case scenario'; 'available to the Group and assumed'. |
Why it matters
A reader checking the refinancing assumption against the borrowings note finds a different maturity month and an incomplete list of maturity years.
Exposure
Drafting slips; no statutory consequence.
Our workings
[wording masked] list the debt maturities that drive the refinancing assumption. They give the [amount] senior unsecured notes as maturing in [date]; the directors' report says the 2030 notes mature on [date], and the borrowings note and the financial-risk note give [date]. The financial year ends at the end of November (the Chair's statement refers to the year ending [date]), so the [amount] convertible bond due [date] falls in FY27, a year the opening list of maturity years leaves out.
Management’s best defence, and our reply
Management could say the statement describes the refinancing profile in broad terms and the exact maturity dates sit in the borrowings note, so no reader is misled. They could add that the June and [date] dates both fall in FY30. However, the statement names a specific month that the audited note contradicts, and its opening list of years omits a maturity it then describes; these are corrections of wording, which is why the point is a drafting slip only.
The fix
- Read 'mature in FY26, FY27, FY29 and FY30', '[date] ([amount] [name])', 'the base case scenario' and delete the repeated 'and'.
Evidence relied on
| # | What it shows | Type | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opening list of maturity years omits FY27 | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 95 |
| 2 | The same paragraph lists a [date] maturity | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 95 |
| 3 | Maturity month given as [date] | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 95 |
| 4 | Directors' report: the 2030 notes mature in [date] | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 164 |
| 5 | Borrowings note: maturity [date] | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 231 |
| 6 | Financial years end in late November, so [date] falls in FY27 | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 101 |
| 7 | Wording slip: 'base cases scenario' | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 96 |
| 8 | Repeated word 'and and' | Document | Annual Report 2025, page 97 |
Prepared by Pramanex from the company’s published annual reports, without the company’s involvement, to show how an annual report review reads. The company is not named, and nothing on this page is a statement about any identifiable company. Observations are not an audit, review or other assurance engagement, and not legal advice. A regulator-style question is a question, not a conclusion.
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