On Monday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) informed investors that Hascol Petroleum Ltd, an oil marketing company, is in non-compliance for failing to conduct its annual general meeting and for failing to submit its annual audited financial statements for 2022.
However, the company’s shares are already quoted in the defaulters’ segment due to its failure to comply with a distinct regulation, i.e., its statutory auditor has issued a qualified opinion on the going concern assumption, a disclaimer, or an unfavourable opinion in the audit report.
Hascol has been in difficulty since 2018, in part due to its inaccurate accounting entries. It has been negotiating with all of its creditors to restructure its entire Rs54 billion debt. It is currently pursuing creditors’ approval for its plan to rehabilitate the company via “restructuring/rescheduling, settlement, and repayment” of financial obligations.
The company has devised a restructuring plan that entails settling the entire debt to the lenders’ satisfaction. It filed a plan of arrangement with the Sindh High Court, which ordered it to hold meetings with banks for their sanction in November 2022.
Hascol Petroleum was expected to reconvene the creditors’ meeting during the first week of April in order to propose the revised plan to its secured creditors and obtain their approvals. However, it postponed a previously postponed meeting of its creditors last month, citing the creditors’ need for “additional time” to assess the proposed scheme of arrangement and seek internal approvals.
