INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT
Auditing woes and abandoned containers add to Trencor dip
The group reports a trading loss of R1.9bn and loses its top position in the global market for containers
Trencor chairman David Nurek described 2016 as the most challenging year since 2009, when international trade slumped in the wake of the global financial crisis. The group reported a trading loss of R1.9bn and lost its number one position in the global market for containers. For Trencor, the huge operational challenges faced by US-listed Textainer, in which it has a 48% stake, were made worse by accounting challenges. The drastic slump in Textainer’s operational performance forced Trencor to record a R2bn impairment on Textainer’s fleet of 2.5-million containers. The US accounting standard, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), did not require Textainer to record this impairment but International Financial Reporting Standards, which regulates the accounting standards of JSE-listed companies, requires the impairment. This requirement led to complex and time-consuming calculations that cost Trencor a whopping R80m in audit fees in financial 2016. In April, the JSE warned Tr...
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