Auditor uncertain about Sport Media

SPORT Media Group’s auditors have been unable to prepare the company’s accounts on a going concern basis because it is still negotiating a refinancing deal.

In an announcement to the stock market Manchester-based Sport Media, which publishes the Daily Sport and produces mobile phone content, said it “remained confident” of renegotiating its debt.

But without a deal the company’s auditor, Mazars, said it could not form a view of the “applicability of the going concern basis” and could not say if the accounts gave a “true and fair view” or have been properly prepared.

A spokesman for Sport Media said it would have preferred to conclude its refinancing talks before issuing its annual report and accounts, but it had to meet a January 31 deadline to avoid its shares being suspended under AIM rules.

When it issued its unaudited final figures on January 8 Sport Media said it had breached one of its banking covenants and had until March 6 to renegotiate its finances.

Sport Newspapers was sold by founder David Sullivan and his partners to Interative World for £50m in August 2007. The reverse takeover saw Sport Newspapers become a public company via a listing on AIM.

In the year to July 31 losses rose from £5.3m to £18.2m after one-off costs relating to the acquisition of Sport Newspapers.