Johannesburg – Steinhoff International Holdings’ annual advisory fees climbed 35% last year, this was pushed by costs related to a deal the company reached with its creditors to skip debt repayments.
The holding company’s shares collapse in late 2017 when the owner of Conforama in France and Pep Store in Africa and Europe was engulfed in a scandal. In order to survive, the company had to secure a long-awaited restructuring agreement in August covering about 9 billion euros of debt, a deal that came with costs.
The company’s creditor-advice payments accounted for 40% of total advisory fees of 158 million euros, said the company in its annual report for the year ended September.
Hoever, the Frankfurt-listed stock remains over 98% lower than before the initial announcement of accounting irregularities.
“As in the previous financial year, the costs of these processes were substantial, and they had a significant impact on the reported results for the year,” Steinhoff said. “Every effort is being made to limit adviser costs and, with implementation of the financial restructuring now behind us, we expect the total to fall in the 2020 financial year.”
