Nearly 60 shareholders attended edtech major Byju’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, which passed three resolutions, including approval of the audited FY22 financials.
The meeting lasted for three hours. The resolutions tabled at the meeting pertained to the company’s statutory auditor, MSKA and Associates.
On the agenda were multiple issues, including approval of the audited FY22 financials with the report of the board, and the appointment of MSKA & Associates as statutory auditors for a five-year term.
The shareholders protested and abstained from passing the resolution on the appointment of the auditor, even as founder and CEO Byju Raveendran reassured them he would organise another meeting for a discussion with the auditor.
“Think and Learn, the parent company of BYJU’s, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) today, with close to 60 shareholders in attendance. All the resolutions were passed, including the accounts for FY22. BDO was re-appointed the statutory auditor of the company. Founder Byju Raveendran opened the AGM with an account of the state of business and its challenges. Nitin Golani, Chief Financial Officer-India, briefed on the audit, while India CEO Arjun Mohan provided business updates and plans. The auditor BDO later answered shareholder questions, before the interactive three-hour-long meeting was wrapped up,” said a Byju’s spokesperson.
Manish Makhija, a senior executive from the auditing firm, highlighted that the company is facing an issue continuing as an ongoing concern. A going concern is an accounting term for a company that has the resources needed to continue operating for the foreseeable future, in this case, the next 12 months.
He said that as auditors could ascertain, there is a ‘significant gap’ between the assets and liabilities of the company. He further said that due to continuing cash burn and an obligation in relation to the Term Loan B, the gap in its resources continues to exist and has become a cause for concern.
However, he added that Byju’s expects to raise a round soon and also has multiple non-binding offers and the possible sale of its subsidiaries.
Byju’s also sought approval for remuneration of Rs 5,00,000 for each of the financial years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24 for B Y & Associates, the cost auditors. This resolution was also passed later.
The AGM comes a month after it announced partial or incomplete FY22 financials only reflecting its core operations, even after a delay of almost a year. BYJU’s reported a 2.3 times growth in revenue to ₹3,569 crore, from ₹1,552 crore in the previous year.