Food Empire's auditors issue qualified opinion over investment in cafe chain

FOOD Empire, which owns several instant-coffee brands, on Monday said its auditors have issued a qualified opinion on its financial statement for the full year ended Dec 31, 2017, that relates to its investment in cafe chain Caffe Bene.

Ernst & Young (EY) noted that the foreign associate, Caffe Bene, had filed for a court-led rehabilitation scheme.

The group recognised share of losses of US$4.76 million from the foreign associate and an impairment charge amounting to US$4.28 million in the group's consolidated income statement for the year.

It said that the auditors of the cafe chain have not been able to complete the audit for the financial year. Accordingly, EY has been unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to ascertain the appropriateness of the group's share of the cafe chain's losses for the year, it said.

This does not have an effect on the group's profit for the year included in the consolidated income statement, the statement said.