Aoxin Q & M asks for more time for FY2019 results, AGM amid Covid-19 outbreak

CATALIST-LISTED Aoxin Q & M Dental Group, which disclosed earlier in the week that it had to close all 17 of its dental centres in China's Liaoning province, on Wednesday asked the Singapore Exchange (SGX) for more time to release FY2019 financial results and hold the annual general meeting (AGM).

The company cannot get information in time to prepare its results, and needs the deadline to be pushed back to April 30, 2020, the board explained.

As mainland China battles the outbreak of deadly respiratory disease Covid-19, the board said that its Chinese auditors, HLB Liaoning Zhongheng CPAs, had been blocked by the authorities there from resuming operations until this Monday.

Having just returned to the office, Aoxin Q & M's Chinese subsidiaries thus need more time to prepare their financial information, including management accounts.

Meanwhile, Singapore-based independent auditors Foo Kon Tan face travel restrictions imposed by Singapore on residents returning from mainland China, even as commercial airlines cut down on available flights, the Aoxin Q & M board also noted.

Upon their return to Singapore from an on-site audit in Liaoning, the independent authors would be subject to a 14-day leave of absence and, "during this period, work to be performed by the independent auditors may be limited", the board asserted.

As such, Aoxin Q & M is also applying to both SGX and the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority to push the deadline for the AGM to June 30, 2020.

The company will provide updates on the outcome of both sets of applications in due course, the board told shareholders in its latest bourse filing.