No PW review for Matbro report

06 May 1998

No PW review for Matbro report

POWERSCREEN International, the troubled Northern Irish engineer, yesterday said Price Waterhouse would not be reporting on irregularities at its Matbro subsidiary despite an earlier statement to the contrary.

Powerscreen had previously said Price Waterhouse would be reviewing KPMGs report on irregularities at its Matbro specialist tractor subsidiary – which ran up unexpected losses of £46.6 million in the year to March 1998.

Price Waterhouse said to do so would create a potential conflict of interest, although the accounting firm would not say what that conflict of interest might be. However, it will compile a report for Powerscreen on the companys management accounting and control systems.

Matbro was sold last week to John Deere, the US agricultural equipment maker.

Powerscreen has now hired Herbert Smith, the London solicitors, to give advice on the legal implications of the accounting irregularities. Herbert Smith
will commission another firm of accountants to review these.

• Financial Times 06/05/98 page 24
• The Times 06/05/98 page 24
  
• The Daily Telegraph 06/05/98 page 32