CBL chief operating officer quits amidst share suspension

Thursday 15th February 2018

CBL Corp's chief operating officer Suzanne Tindal has quit the company, as the company's stock remains suspended from the NZX over continuous disclosure concerns.

The Auckland-based credit surety and financial insurance risk firm announced Tindal would start the role on Feb.1 in November. Today, it said that "due to events taking place that are already known to the market, Suzanne and CBL have agreed to end their employment relationship."

NZX suspended the stock a week ago, due to concerns the market operator's regulation team has about whether the company has given complete and true material information to the market. Trading in the stock was halted before the suspension, with details eked out over subsequent days that prudential regulators in New Zealand and abroad questioned the adequacy of reserves for its French construction insurance division, prompting a credit rating downgrade and prospective capital raise.

Yesterday, the insurer said it was hiring advisers to sell the French construction insurance division that's seen it fall foul of regulators over solvency concerns and is pursuing legal action against the vendors of Securities and Financial Solutions Europe SA (SFS). It has said it will need a couple of weeks to finalise a capital raising and said yesterday that process was continuing.

The company still expects to report annual earnings on Feb. 27, having issued a profit warning earlier this month that it posted a loss of between $75 million and $85 million in calendar 2017.

The stock last traded on the NZX at $3.17 before being suspended last week, more than twice the $1.55 price the shares were sold at in an initial public offering in late 2015.

(BusinessDesk)

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