Cape Town - Steinhoff International [JSE:SHF] informed shareholders on Monday that in the course of a dispute with a former joint venture partner, it has received a petition by two German companies for an annual accounts proceeding before the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.
The companies are owned by the previous joint venture partner. A hearing is scheduled for September 21 2017. The petition relates to the September 30 2016 accounts.
Steinhoff CEO Markus Jooste said: “The annual accounts of Steinhoff International were established according to all applicable rules and to our best knowledge. The 2016 annual accounts are correct and received an unqualified opinion by our financial auditors. The allegations brought in against Steinhoff are unfounded and rejected by Steinhoff.”
The dispute relates to the resolution of the redemption of a joint venture in a European retail venture which is currently pending for hearing in Germany.
The petition covers the treatment of a joint investment, which was consolidated by the investment. In order to strengthen their case, said Steinhoff, the opposing party is questioning the consolidation.
Steinhoff has appointed legal and external audit firms in Germany to investigate the matter independently, and said they have found no evidence of any wrongdoing.
"Therefore, Steinhoff sees itself in a strong position and welcomes the opportunity to formally disprove these allegations," said the company.
Steinhoff shares were unaffected by the news on the JSE, trading almost 1% higher. However, the shares have dropped by over 20% in the last year.