WANdisco (LON: WAND) problems just got a little worse on Thursday with the announcement of a Financial Conduct Authority investigation into the accounting problems at the company. As the announcement has it: “WANdisco (LSE: WAND), the data activation platform, has been notified by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") of its commencement of an investigation into the Company. The investigation relates to certain regulatory announcements released by the Company during the period 1 January 2022 to 9 March 2023, which may have materially mis-stated the Company's financial position.” This is in addition, of course, to the internal investigation already going on into what happened.
That story has been changing a bit over time too. It started with perhaps the one individual overstating sales: “ significant, sophisticated and potentially fraudulent irregularities with regard to received purchase orders and related revenue and bookings, as represented by one senior sales employee, have been discovered.” The result of that was that perhaps sales had in fact only been $9 million, not $24 million as reported. That seriously impacts the cash position and so on. Worries - and at this point it is all worries, thoughts, rumours and so on - have expanded from that into wondering whether there're more gremlins in those accounts. How much of the past is true at all in fact?
WANdisco share price from London Stock Exchange.
The reason - probably the only reason - that WAND share price hasn't collapsed into the gutter already is that the shares have been suspended since Match 9th. There's a grey book being operated but that's not for the likes of us out here.
This is all - as we might say - most unfortunate. For there was about to be - or was mooted to about to be - a NASDAQ flotation in the works. That would have, perhaps, significantly boosted the share price. The American markets are viewed as valuing tech stocks more highly than London. A little unfortunate perhaps for the promoters that these problems came to light before that float rather than after. Or, given the US attitude toward misstatements to public markets, perhaps fortunate.
Sadly, we've no way of trading on this new information given that share suspension. All we can do is look on in wonder. Fun perhaps even if not profitable.
