KARACHI: The Pakis­tan Stock Exchange (PSX) told investors on Monday that Hascol Petroleum Ltd, an oil marketing company, is in non-compliance for failing to hold its annual general meeting besides not submitting its annual audited financial statements for 2022.

However, the company’s shares are already quoted in the defaulters’ segment on account of its non-compliance with a separate regulation i.e. its statutory auditor has issued a qualified opinion on the going concern assumption, has issued a disclaimer, or an adverse opinion in the audit report.

Hascol has been in trouble since 2018 partly for making inaccurate entries in its financial accounts. It’s been in negotiation with all its lenders to restructure its entire debt of Rs54 billion. It’s now in the middle of seeking approval from creditors for its plan to rehabilitate the company through “restructuring/rescheduling, settlement and repayment” of financial obligations.

The company has designed a restructuring scheme that entails the settlement of the full amount to the satisfaction of lenders. It filed a scheme of arrangement with the Sindh High Court, which ordered it in November 2022 to convene meetings with banks for their approval.

Hascol Petroleum was supposed to reconvene the creditors’ meeting in the first week of April to present the modified scheme to its secured creditors for necessary approvals. But it postponed last month a previously adjourned meeting of its creditors, saying they required “additional time” to review the proposed scheme of arrangement and seek internal approvals.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2023