SET-listed L.V. Technology (LVT) has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to address a dearth of auditors for listed companies after the company's stock was suspended for more than seven months for failure to submit last year's financial statements.
Some small listed companies such as LVT face difficulties in hiring accountants to audit financial statements because the number of qualified auditors is limited and listed companies increasingly are unable to afford high fees, said chief executive Vichai Tantikulananta.
The company up to now has not turned over its 2013 financial statements to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), as management failed to find new auditors after the previous ones declined to renew their contract.
"It's a waste of time for us to seek new auditors and we have endured the problem until now," Mr Vichai said.
"This has resulted in the company's shares posting an 'SP' sign [meaning suspended] since last year."
The problem of a qualified auditor shortage is growing worse as scores of companies queue up to seek listings on the SET, the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) and a proposed exchange for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
To solve the problem, the SEC recently said it would classify auditors in two groups, with the first tier eligible to audit companies listed on the SET and the MAI, and the second group only allowed to audit companies listed on the SME board.
At present there are only 180 auditors qualified to audit the statements of more than 700 listed companies.
"I would like to request that concerned agencies address the problems of the auditor shortage urgently, as it is the capital market's structural problems that need to be solved," Mr Vichai said.
"To create balance, an increase in the numbers of accredited auditors to serve demand from the rising numbers of listed companies is needed."
Meanwhile, managing director Panya Kritiyawong said LVT shareholders last week acknowledged last year's financial results.
The company remained mired in the red with a loss of 192 million baht in 2013 after a loss of 414 million in 2012.
The latest shortfall could be ascribed to a 160-million-baht expense from fines of delayed projects.
Mr Panya said the backlog at the end of last year would be realised to the tune of 3.04 billion baht over the next few years and that LVT's business remained viable.