Deloitte quits as Ferrexpo auditor after clash over charity donations

Ferrexpo shares plunged on Friday after Deloitte quit as its auditor following a disagreement between the company and the accountancy firm over donations made to a charitable foundation.

In a brief statement the FTSE 250 company said: "Ferrexpo announces that its auditor, Deloitte LLP, has informed the company that it has resigned from its office as statutory auditor with immediate effect."

Ferrexpo shares fell 19% to 217.40p at 0855 BST.

The Ukraine-focused miner was forced to delay its annual results twice to allow time for a review of its donations to Blooming Land, a Ukrainian charity set up to coordinate Ferrexpo’s corporate and social responsibility activities. Unexplained discrepancies were found in Blooming Land’s bank statements, prompting Ferrexpo’s board to conduct a review.

When Ferrexpo announced its results on 23 April it said the board had concluded Blooming Land was not a "related party of the group, its executive or its executive management".

But Deloitte said the investigation had identified a significant number of "potential associations and linkages adjacent to the CEO" Kostyantin Zhevago. The auditor said it had not been given enough evidence to show that $33.5m of donations to Blooming Land over two years was spent legitimately.