Belgian fraud hits Hargreaves hard
MINING group Hargreaves Services has been hit hard by the £18.8m cost of a fraud at its Belgian operation and the mothballing of Maltby Colliery.
The losses from Maltby of £9.8m pushed South Yorkshire-based Hargreaves to a pre-tax loss of £9.1m in the six months to November 30.
The group decided to mothball Maltby in December and up to 500 staff will lose their jobs when it finally shuts at the end of next month.
Hargreaves saw revenues up 19.3% in the period, to £385.1m with underlying operating profit up 6% to £24.6m.
It is paying an interim dividend of 6.9p, up 15%.
Commenting on the interim results, chairman Tim Ross said: “This has been a challenging period for the group. Although Maltby and Belgium have had a significant impact on reported results, the underlying performance of the business in the first half was good and the prospects for the second half are also encouraging.”
Two managers at the Belgian subsidary, which contributed £2m of operating profit last year, were suspended after problems were discovered relating to “serious overstatement of stock values and credit notes due from major suppliers.”
KPMG were appointed in December to carry out an urgent forensic investigation.
