FILE PHOTO: Aircraft flies over the head office of Asiana Airlines in Seoul, July 7, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
March 22, 2019
SEOUL (Reuters) – The Korea Exchange on Thursday halted trading in shares of South Korea’s Asiana Airlines Inc through Monday after an auditor submitted a report pointing out a lack of evidence to judge the stock value of the airline.
“Based on the report of Asiana Airlines’ auditing firm Samil PwC, the scope of the audit was limited as the auditor could not obtain comprehensive evidence to decide the value of the airline,” an official at the Korea Exchange said on Friday.
Trading in shares of South Korea’s second-biggest carrier will be resumed on Tuesday, according to the Korea Exchange.
In response to the trading halt, Asiana Airlines said in a statement it will swiftly request the auditor resolve the reasons which caused the qualified opinion.
Shares of Asiana Airlines’ affiliates plunged on the bourse’s suspension of the carrier’s stock.
Asiana IDT Inc saw its shares fall as much as 13.5 percent by 0200 GMT, while budget affiliate Air Busan Co Ltd lost 2.3 percent.
The broader KOSPI market was trading up 0.09 percent.
(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
