Shares in recruitment firm Staffline (STAF:AIM) jump 25% to 838p on their re-admission to trading on Tuesday after being suspended for more than a month.
That still leaves them well below the £10 level before they were suspended but it is a fair reward for the company’s clear, concise explanation of the events leading up to and after the suspension.
READ MORE ABOUT STAFFLINE HERE
SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER
On 29th January, the day before full year results were due to be announced, the firm was made aware of allegations over its invoicing and payroll practices.
It announced to the market before the open the next day that it was delaying its results, causing the shares to lose 33% of their value before they were suspended from trading.
After the close on 30th January the firm released another update explaining why it had delayed the results and that it was investigating the allegations.
MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE
As today’s statement shows, a review of its payroll practices revealed a minor discrepancy in its compliance with the national minimum wage rules which came into force in 2015.
‘Potential underpayments relate to a limited number of food production facilities and the payment for preparation time, which is generally the time spent donning workwear’ according to the statement.
Staffline had already put aside £20m of provisions for exceptional costs for last year and to be ‘prudent’ it has increased these by another £3.5m. This is the only change against market expectations for last year.
The results will be published shortly but with the accounting issue in hand and the shares trading again the board can at least get on with running the business and delivering on its ‘key growth objectives’.
