Finablr urgently seeks to complete liquidity and cashflow position assessment

Finablr PLC (LON:FIN), a provider of cross-border payments, FX and payment technology, says it is taking urgent steps to assess accurately its current liquidity and cashflow position.

This position has been negatively affected by a number of factors, including:

• travel restrictions imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19, which have reduced demand for foreign exchange and payment services and has restricted the movement of physical currencies that the company needs to operate its businesses;
• the recent credit downgrade of Travelex’s bonds;
• a liquidity squeeze at both Group and operational business level; and
• adverse perceptions in the market that the circumstances surrounding NMC Health PLC (the management, operations and finances of which are independent and separate from those of the Company) are relevant to Finablr, which have exacerbated current levels of stress on the company’s cashflow position.

Finablr notes that these factors place significant constraints on the company’s access to the daily liquidity it needs to manage its business effectively and its ability to negotiate longer term financing. Due to the fast-developing events and circumstances, the company is urgently seeking to complete its assessment of its liquidity and cashflow position and negotiate the steps that are necessary to address its short- and longer-term financing needs.

The Board plans to appoint an independent financial advisor as soon as possible to advise the company with respect to these matters.

After discussions with the Company’s executive management, promoter shareholders, independent auditors, and in light of meetings of the Audit Committee, the Board has been reassured that Finablr has no undisclosed related-party transactions or unrecorded on or off-balance-sheet financing arrangements. However, to provide further assurance to the Board and the market that this is the case, the Board will shortly commission an independent investigation into Finablr’s financial arrangements.

Earlier this week, Finablr’s Board said it received confirmation from Dr B.R. Shetty (Co-Chairman), Mr. Binay R. Shetty (Director) that the information set out in the IPO Prospectus about the shareholding levels of BRS Investment Holdings 1 Limited, BRS Investment Holdings 2 Limited and BRS Investment Holdings 3 Limited was accurate and complete and that Dr. Shetty and Mr. Binay Shetty are presently the beneficial owners of 459,579,041 shares, representing 65.65% of the company.

Let’s recall that, on January 24, 2020, Finablr announced that shares held by BRS Investment Holdings 1 Limited, representing 56.03% of the shares, had been pledged as security for borrowings. Dr. Shetty and Mr. Binay Shetty have also confirmed to the Board that, prior to the January 24, 2020 disclosure, none of these shares, nor any other shares in the company held beneficially by the Shetty-family owned entities, had been pledged as security.