Troubled travel business Corporate Travel Management has warned the market its financial accounts will not be available until August, further delaying the potential resumption of trading in its shares.
The firm, which has overcharged the British government by an estimated £118 million to £128 million ($220 million to $240 million), said it was still in the process of completing accounts which are central to efforts to repay the government.
The company had earlier promised the accounts would be lodged by June 30.
In April, the Australian company said overpayments had extended into 2025 and the company would have to restate its financial accounts for every year going back to 2019.
At the heart of the issue was Corporate Travel Management’s contract with the UK government to house asylum seekers within the UK on barges in a bid to save taxpayer money.
While the company is in the process of refunding customers, “the finalisation and implementation of the UK remediation arrangements remain subject to completion of the FY25 accounts”, it said in a market update on Thursday.
In the ASX update, Corporate Travel Management said its financial statements for the 2025 financial year and the first half of the 2026 year were “substantially advanced but not complete”.
Its shares have been suspended from trading on the ASX since August 2025 after the discovery of significant overcharging and accounting errors in its UK/Europe operations.
As part of its travel and contingency accommodation services for asylum seekers, which included the controversial Bibby Stockholm barge project, CTM was awarded an additional contract by the UK’s Home Office in April 2025. The new agreement expanded CTM’s responsibilities to include 14 hotels.
In Thursday’s update, CTM also said it identified a $10-$15 million reduction in reported revenue from its Australia and New Zealand operations, relating to rebates for contracts that were signed primarily between FY19 and FY23.
In the UK, CTM is still reviewing client contracts for flight bookings and “has identified a number of contracts requiring further assessment” for the basis for recognising margin revenue.
The ambiguous nature of the pricing of earlier UK contracts has been a feature of the scandal, which has claimed the scalp of Michael Healy OBE, who was let go as head of its UK and European operations in December.
The company will see impairments on goodwill (or intangible assets linked to the business) in the Europe segment of £92 million ($175 million), in the Australia/New Zealand segment of $77 million and in the North America segment of $US49 million ($71 million) to reflect “more conservative growth forecasts, increased cost of capital and investment in governance”.
Founder and portfolio manager at Ten Cap, Jun Bei Liu, said it appeared the company was struggling to find an acceptable payment plan with the UK government.
Because the board refuses to say the company is a going concern, the auditor is not signing off on accounts, so CTM “can’t come back to the market”.
“What they want to do is to raise money to pay to the UK government because I think there is a sticking point for the payment plan.”
CTM has zero access to capital even as it continues to service clients, Liu said.
“I actually think that this is a little bit alarming” whether the company and the UK government can find a “mid-point” for an acceptable payment plan.
“Everyone’s just waiting for those accounts to be signed off, but the accounts can’t be signed off until the company has capital to pay the UK.”
RBC Capital Markets said that with “issues continuing to arise even at this late stage, we see the pathway to a relisting narrowing”.
“We also view recent negative media attention on the audit sector as another unfortunately timed headwind.”
“We fear the bar for Deloitte (Corporate Travel Management’s auditor) to sign-off on accounts may have now materially risen,” the group said.
Acting group chief executive Ana Pedersen said: “We recognise the delay is deeply frustrating for shareholders and acknowledge the uncertainty it has created.”
Founder Jamie Pherous left as chief executive in February, with Pedersen appointed as acting CEO.
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Chris Zappone is a senior reporter covering aviation and business. He is former digital foreign editor.Connect via X,Facebookoremail.
