Mar City suspends shares as it searches for new nomad

SHARES in troubled housebuilder Mar City were suspended today pending the appointment of a new nominated adviser.

The board of the Birmingham firm has also confirmed the resignation of its current chairman, although this had been expected.

It has now commenced talks to appoint a new nomad in due course.

The company has had a difficult start to the year. The problems began in February when the company revealed that full year profits were likely to be significantly below forecasts because of problems with accounting procedures.

This came just a week after it had forecast that results would meet expectations with profits up threefold compared with 2013.

The builder said that following an internal review of the company’s accounting procedures conducted by the board, it was now forecasting that pre-tax profit for the year ended December 31, 2014, would be approximately £6.3m – well below previous forecasts.

It said the adjustment was due to a review of profit recognition associated with the holding value of completed residential properties, built by the company, in a Private Rental Sector (PRS) portfolio.

The company promised it would beef up its board in response to the situation.

Announcing the suspension of its shares, it added: “The board is well under way with the process of appointing a new Finance Director and Non-Executive roles including the replacement to Non-Executive Chairman, Hamilton Anstead, who has confirmed his resignation for personal reasons.  

“Hamilton was to step down from the board at the company’s next General Meeting and the board would like to thank him for his contribution to the company over recent years.

It added that the company’s operations continued to perform in line with management expectations.