Steinhoff Posts £530m Loss as Scandal Rolls On

Embattled South African based retail group Steinhoff posted a huge loss of £530 million in its interim results, as it struggles to restructure the business.

The company, which owns Poundland, Bensons for Beds and Harveys in the UK, restated its financial results for the same period in the previous year, revealing a further £320 million loss. 

The Steinhoff board said “The past seven months has been a very challenging period for the people in our group, and we would like to make use of this opportunity to thank the management and employees of the underlying businesses for their leadership and loyalty to keep the businesses going and retain value for the group under extremely difficult circumstances".

Despite the scandal and the substantial losses, the company has been given the green light by its creditors allowing it to push forward with its £8.9 billion debt restructuring plan as well as to extend the deadline for talks to July 20. 

The company has received numerous legal challenges, including one from Dutch investment group VEB, to its auditors Deloitte, alleging it had “seriously failed in its statutory task as auditor”. 

Source: Insight Team

For all the very latest news and intelligence on the UK's largest home improvement and garden retailers, sign up for the Insight DIY weekly newsletter.