Gold Fields [JSE:GFI] on Monday announced it has replaced KPMG with PwC as the company’s external auditors, with Pieter Hough as the designated audit partner for the financial year ending 31 December 2019.
This follows a formal tender process to appoint a new firm of external auditors, as KPMG's appointment will end on conclusion of its responsibilities relating to the 31 December 2018 financial year audit.
This is expected to be concluded on or about the end of April 2019, after which PwC's appointment will be effective immediately thereafter, Gold Fields said.
The globally diversified gold producer indicated in a statement that KPMG's audit reports for the 2017 and 2016 financial years were in order.
"[They] did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles," Gold Fields said, adding that the board and the audit committee were satisfied that "KPMG delivered an audit of satisfactory quality for the financial year ended 31 December 2017".
In February, Gold Fields reported normalised earnings from continuing operations of US$141m for the year ended December 2017 compared with $190m for the year ended December 2016.
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