The Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) on Monday, as expected, called on ASE-listed Folli Follie Group (FFG) to implement an independent audit of its 2017 results, days after a report by US hedge fund Quintessential Capital Management disputed the former's revenues, sales network and investment numbers.
HCMC called for a major multinational accounting to conduct the audit, given that the greater portion of FFG's turnover is conducted outside Greece.
The independent market watchdog also requested that a national supervisory body for the auditing-accounting profession, HAASOB or EL.TE in its Greek-language acronym, immediately conduct a quality control of the independent auditor and accounting firm that signed FFG's results for 2017.
At the same time, HCMC will call on QCM to present detailed figures and data to back up its conclusions. The watchdog also announced that it is reviewing transactions announced by FFG.
Athens-based FF, which has boasted of a noteworthy presence in Asian markets, and especially China, has already filed a lawsuit against QCM and scheduled a meeting between its top executives and HCMC leadership.
Additionally,in going on the "offensive", begun with a detailed letter countering QCM's conclusions on Saturday, FFG CEO Tzortzis Koutsolioutsos will personally brief analysts in the coming days, following his return from Hong Kong.
In a first reaction, Koutsolioutsos referred to an "organized plan" by profiteers to damage the company's reputation.
In a continuing round of back-and-forth announcements, QCM posted on its Twitter account, @QCMFunds, a detailed response of FF's initial reaction and defense, under the title " QCM has published a response to the latest statement by FF, we focused strictly on the facts". The QCM statement is at http://www.qcmfunds.com/wp-content/uploads/QCM-first-response.pdf
