New Era records N$88.7-million loss at end of last year

New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) says it accumulated a loss of N$88.7 million by the end of the 2023 financial year, and not N$161.4 million in two years.

In September, The Namibian reported that the state-owned corporation accumulated a N$161.4-million loss in two years, which was incorrect.

According to a statement issued by NEPC chief executive Christof Maletsky last week, the company’s accumulated losses were N$88.7 million.

This is over an unspecified period of time.

Maletsky says the company made a N$15.8-million loss in 2022, and a N$11.3-million loss in 2023.

“In actual fact, the total comprehensive deficit for 2022 and 2023 is N$15.8 million and N$11.3 million, respectively.

The deficit is attributed to finance costs of N$6.6 million and N$4 million, respectively, for both 2023 and 2022,” the statement reads.

Auditor general Junias Kandjeke in NEPC’s financial results for the years ended 31 March 2022 and 2023 flagged the company for failing to adhere to its tax obligations for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.

This comes after Kandjeke found that NEPC incorrectly declared the output and input value added tax to the Namibia Revenue Agency (Namra), resulting in N$2.1 million being undeclared.

Kandjeke said no resubmission was made at the time of writing the audit report.

“It is recommended that the corporation ensures that statutory obligations are complied with in line with the provisions of income tax and value added tax legislation. “Moreover, the corporation is recommended to ensure that the VAT declared is a true reflection of the past events,” he said.

Kandjeke said a government subsidy amounting to N$10 million in March 2023 and N$10 million in March 2022 was disclosed under revenue in the detailed income statement instead of equity.

“The above treatment was found inappropriate, since contributions were made by the government while acting in its capacity as shareholders.

Therefore, it was out of scope to apply IAS 20 when the government retains ownership,” he said.

Kandjeke recommended that NEPC ensures that regular reconciliations are performed to avoid misstatements in the financial statement.

However, Maletsky says taxes were corrected and the Office of the Auditor General was informed

He says New Era is in good standing with Namra.

All historic tax debt has been written off with the approval of the parliament, he says.

“Currently, NEPC is in the position to pay all its creditors besides the historical debtors of taxes, which has subsequently been cleared with a tax write-off as per parliamentary approval, and NEPC is currently in good standing with the ‘tax man’,” Maletsky says.

He says the government’s subsidy was treated as revenue in all previous years.

“. . . as it is used for operational expenses such as printing and distribution,” he says.

Moving forward, the corporation will adopt the International Public Sector Accounting Standards to reclassify government subsidies, Maletsky says.