KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): Developer YNH Property Bhd, which recently made headlines over several delayed disclosures of its business operations, has appointed Messrs Morison LC Malaysia as its new external auditor.

Morison LC Malaysia has been appointed for the financial period ending June 30, 2024, and will hold office until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting, according to a YNH filing with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday.

“Over the past few months, the board of directors has been carefully evaluating several candidates for this role to recommend to the independent non-executive directors that make up the audit committee,” YNH said.

The appointment came on the heels of the group’s redesignation of its senior independent, non-executive director, Khong Kam Hou, as chairman of its audit committee on March 1 to assist YNH in fulfilling its oversight and fiduciary duties.

Back then, YNH stated that the most immediate and critical task of the audit committee, headed by Khong, would be to appoint an independent external auditor.  

Prior to this, YNH’s previous external auditor, Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng PLT, had issued a qualified opinion on YNH’s financial statements for the 18 months ended June 30, 2023, over its joint venture and turnkey contracts for property development works.

Since the conclusion of the group’s annual general meeting on Dec 8, 2023, Baker Tilly had ceased to be the company’s external auditor and had notified YNH that it did not wish to seek reappointment as its auditor, prior to the company tabling a resolution to reappoint it to the role.

The company said the appointment of Morison LC Malaysia aligns with the board’s commitment to embracing high levels of corporate governance within the organisation.

According to YNH, Morison LC Malaysia is part of the larger Morison Global family, which is among the top accounting networks on a global scale.

“The board and the management team of YNH aim to provide full cooperation and support to our new external auditor to safeguard the interests of our shareholders and stakeholders,” YNH added.

YNH shares were down half a sen or 1.1% at 47 sen at the time of writing, valuing the company at RM248.6 million.