WANdisco suspends shares over ‘potentially fraudulent irregularities’

Data firm WANdisco has suspended trading on the London Stock Exchange today after finding “potentially fraudulent irregularities” in its books that mean it may have overstated its revenues by $15m (£12.6m).

In a statement this morning, the Sheffield-based firm said it would suspend trading with immediate effect after an internal investigation by its chief executive David Richards and chief financial officer Erik Miller uncovered irregularities that may have given rise to a “potential material mis-statement of the Company’s financial position”.

“Following investigations undertaken by the CFO and CEO, and as reported to the Board of Directors of the company, significant, sophisticated and potentially fraudulent irregularities with regard to received purchase orders and related revenue and bookings, as represented by one senior sales employee, have been discovered,” the firm said.

WANdisco added that the identification of these irregularities will “significantly impact the company’s cash position” and lead to a “material uncertainty regarding its overall financial position and significant going concern issues”. 

“The board now expects that anticipated [full year 2022] revenue could be as low as $9m and not $24m as previously reported,” the firm said. “In addition, the Company has no confidence in its announced FY22 bookings expectations.”

Bosses said they were now conducting an investigation with external legal and professional advisers into the “nature of this activity and its true financial position.”

In a full year trading update in January, WANdisco said it revenues to have surged 229 per cent year while bookings in the full year grew 967 per cent to $127m.

Chief David Richards had described it as a “watershed year” in which “demand for our solutions translated into significant contracts”.

The news comes days after WANdisco revealed it was mulling a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in a move that sparked fears of a tech exodus to New York.