KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd has said it is expecting to appoint new auditor by the end of the month, as its former external auditor KPMG PLT resigned last month after the oil & gas engineering firm filed a lawsuit against the latter.

In a filing with the bourse, it said it submitted a request of proposal for provision of external audit to international audit firms on June 27.

Serba Dinamik added that it had also requested a meeting with the Companies Commission of Malaysia for a consultation in relation to the appointment of external auditor pursuant to Section 272 of the Companies Act 2016.

"The board is targeting to appoint the new auditors by end July 2021. In conjunction, the company will make an immediate announcement to this effect immediately upon the finalisation of appointment of the new auditors," said the group.

KPMG resigned citing the reason that the lawsuit had compromised its ability to independently continue the audit engagement and discharge its professional duties.

Serba Dinamik has been embroiled in an auditing dispute with KPMG, after the external auditor highlighted discrepancies involving transactions worth some RM4.54 billion to the company's independent directors last month. The issues raised were based on Serba Dinamik's accounts for the financial period ended Dec 31, 2020.

Its second largest shareholder, Datuk Abdul Kadier Sahib, initially wanted to call for an extraordinary general meeting to remove KPMG and to appoint BDO as the new external auditor.

Abdul Kadier, who owns 16.25% in Serba Dinamik and is its non-independent non-executive director, however withdrew his proposal a week later.

Last Friday, the company appointed Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Ernst & Young Advisory Services Sdn Bhd) to conduct a special independent review on the issues raised by KPMG.

Serba Dinamik's share price rebounded from its record low of 32 sen after the appointment of the independent reviewer. The stock went up 2.5 sen or 5.15% higher to 51 sen, giving a market capitalisation of RM1.9 billion.