New Era incurs N$161,4m loss in two years

The state-owned New Era Publication Corporation (NEPC) accumulated losses of N$72,8 million and N$88,6 million in March 2022 and 2023, respectively.

This translates to N$161.4 million over the period under review.

This was said by auditor general Junias Kandjeke in the audited financial report of NEPC accounts for the financial years ended 31 March 2022 and 2023.

Kandjeke said NEPC’s total liabilities exceeded its total assets by N$51,4 million in 2022 and N$68,5 million in 2023.

“These events or conditions, along with other matters as set forth in note 14 indicates that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Kandjeke found.

The auditor general also flagged NEPC for failing to adhere to its tax obligations for the financial year ended 31 March 2022.

This comes after Kandjeke found that the NEPC wrongly declared the output and input value added tax to the Namibia Revenue Agency, resulting in N$2,1 million being undeclared.

Kandjeke said there was no resubmission 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, thus, it should have been disclosed as equity in accordance with the IAS 1.106 (d) and IAS 20.2 (c). 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.

He found that under employees cost, an unexplained variance amounting to N$858 242 in 2023 was discovered between the general ledger and the payroll summaries.