Home REIT will hold an annual general meeting next month at which no resolutions will be put to shareholders, as the troubled company works through the aftermath of its delayed full-year accounts and suspension in trading.
The REIT, which invests in accommodation for the homeless, has been on the defensive since its business model and tenant base came under attack from short-seller Viceroy Research.
It said its 2022 results would be delayed due to auditor BDO carrying out “an enhanced set of audit procedures” and its shares were suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange earlier this month. The results have since been delayed further from a target of 31 January.
That delay means the company cannot put standard AGM resolutions to shareholders relating to receiving financial statements and auditor’s and directors’ reports, approving the directors’ remuneration report or re-appointing the auditor. But under the UK Companies Act 2006, Home REIT still must hold an AGM before 28 February.
The company said an AGM on 20 February at the offices of FTI Consulting will be “the chance to meet with the company’s board of directors and investment adviser” but that it will “defer all the standard AGM resolutions to a separate ‘accounts general meeting’ of shareholders to be held as soon as possible following the publication of the 2022 annual report and accounts”.
No new date has been set for the publication of the annual report and accounts.
Home REIT said: “The board believes that this proposal allows the company to comply with its legal obligations in the most efficient, straightforward and transparent way whilst ensuring that shareholders will get a chance to vote on the normal AGM resolutions once the company has published the results for the period to which these relate.
“Accordingly, no resolutions will be proposed at the AGM. However, the board and the company’s investment adviser will instead use the AGM to update shareholders on the current situation and give shareholders the opportunity to ask questions.”
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