Adani Ports appoints BDO auditor after Deloitte quits

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BDO International, will succeed Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP as statutory auditor of Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ), according to a statement by the company. Deloitte quit the role on Saturday following differences with the company management over several transactions. Deloitte had been reappointed by the APSEZ audit committee in July 2022 for a five-year period.

Its exit was reported by ET on Saturday. APSEZ said Deloitte had asked for audit roles at other Adani firms. This wouldn't be feasible, the auditor had been told, it said.

«Deloitte indicated a lack of a wider audit role as auditors of other listed Adani portfolio companies,» according to the Adani Ports statement citing Gopal Krishna Pillai, chairman of its audit committee. «Deloitte was not willing to continue as APSEZ's statutory auditor and, therefore, it was agreed to amicably end the client-auditor contractual relationship between APSEZ and Deloitte.» MSKA & Associates has been hired till the date of the next Adani Ports annual general meeting, to be held in 2024. Deloitte told the company that the scope of its audit wouldn't cover group units.

Deloitte said in a statement issued late on Saturday that they were tendering the resignation with immediate effect as they were not statutory auditors to a substantial number of Adani Group companies. The firm said that since it was not an auditor to other group companies, «the scope of the audit didn't extend to transactions or balances which may have occurred between these group companies and their suppliers, customers or any other parties.» The auditor said it wouldn't be able to form a true and fair opinion without going into details of various inter-group transactions. It had been raising concerns on various