G4S Botswana is expected to publish its 2025 results by the end of June, extending a four-year pattern of releasing audited financial statements outside the Botswana Stock Exchange’s (BSE) prescribed reporting deadlines. The bourse told this publication that it has imposed fines on the company for delays.
Responding to The Business Weekly and Review, the BSE confirmed it has engaged G4S at both management and board level regarding what it described as “repeated contraventions” relating to the delayed publication of audited financial statements.
The exchange further revealed that regulatory action taken against the company has ranged from written warnings to monetary fines.
This comes after G4S announced last week that its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2025 will be released on or before 30 June 2026.
Under BSE Listings Requirements, listed companies must publish audited financial statements within three months of their financial year-end or issue preliminary results while the audit is being completed.
While G4S has complied with this requirement, the latest delay extends a reporting saga dating back to FY2022 that has included a financial statement restatement, an investigation into accounting entries, and recurring control weaknesses identified by Deloitte.
For the year ended 31 December 2022, G4S released preliminary unaudited results on 31 March 2023, informing investors that Deloitte & Touche had not yet completed its audit work.
The audited accounts were subsequently approved on 10 May 2023.
More significantly, the unaudited FY2022 results showed a profit after tax of approximately P4.8 million and profit before tax of P6.4 million. Once the audit was completed, however, the company reported a loss after tax of almost P6 million and a loss before tax of P6.1 million.
The following year, G4S again published preliminary results before audited accounts were finalised.
In a market announcement accompanying its FY2023 preliminary results, released on 2 July 2024, the company disclosed that publication of its audited financial statements had been delayed by an ongoing investigation into financial reporting closing journals dating back to 2021 and 2022, which it said could also have implications for 2023.
The investigation stemmed from accounting errors that forced G4S to restate its 2022 financial statements.
According to the company, certain long-outstanding credit balances and financial closing adjustments had been incorrectly accounted for, resulting in the overstatement of trade receivables, other payables and retained earnings.
Still in the FY2023 preliminary results, directors acknowledged the existence of internal control deficiencies and said management had committed itself to addressing identified weaknesses.
Those concerns were later reinforced by Deloitte.
In successive audits, the auditor identified weaknesses in G4S Botswana’s financial reporting control environment and said the deficiencies contributed to delays in completing audit work and finalising financial statements.
Among the areas highlighted were weaknesses relating to reconciliations, reviews of financial information, data management processes, and elements of the company’s IT control environment.
Despite management’s repeated commitments to strengthen controls and improve reporting processes, the company has continued to release audited accounts outside the standard reporting timetable.
The BSE told this publication that it has specifically engaged G4S’s board regarding the factors contributing to the delayed publication of audited financial statements, including the control weaknesses identified during the audit process.
The exchange said discussions have also focused on remedial measures being implemented by the company.
The FY2024 reporting cycle further reinforced the pattern.
G4S released preliminary unaudited results for the year ended 31 December 2024 on 30 April 2025. Revenue had increased by 7 percent to P230.1 million from P214.9 million in the previous year.
The audited FY2024 financial statements were only authorised for issue on 22 September 2025, almost six months after the standard reporting deadline.
Despite the recurring delays, G4S has signalled an improvement in its underlying financial performance.
In a cautionary announcement issued last week, the company informed shareholders that loss before tax for the year ended 31 December 2025 is expected to be between P5 million and P6.8 million, compared to the P16 million loss reported in FY2024.
Reached for comment, G4S Botswana Managing Director Mothusi Molokomme said he was unable to comment as the company is currently in a closed period ahead of the release of its FY2025 results.
The BSE has confirmed it has taken regulatory action against G4S for contraventions under the Equity Listings Requirements.
“The sanctions imposed have ranged from written warnings to monetary fines, depending on the circumstances of each case,” the exchange said.
While FY2025 marks the fourth consecutive reporting cycle in which G4S has published audited accounts outside the normal three-month reporting timetable, the BSE says G4S’s board has advised that measures aimed at addressing the identified challenges are expected to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2026.
