IL&FS Ltd has sought more time from SEBI to submit the financial results for the half year ended September 30, 2018. The debt-laden company said it will try to prepare the results by February 28, 2019.

The request by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd comes in the backdrop of IL&FS’ new board grappling with the restructuring of the company even as some members of the erstwhile board may face a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office for money laundering.

Considering the circumstances under which the Centre has put in place the new IL&FS board, headed by Uday Kotak, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the company wants sufficient time to review and verify its financial position.

It is imperative that the results are approved by the new board after due review and consideration, it said.

December deadline

Under SEBI norms, a listed company is required to prepare and submit its unaudited or audited half-yearly results to the stock exchanges within 45 days of the end of the half year.

IL&FS has time up to December 15 to declare its half-yearly results as per Ind AS (Indian Accounting Standards), which became applicable from the beginning of this financial year to NBFCs with a net worth of ₹500 crore or more.

However, the company said that considering the issues it has been facing over the past few months, submitting the H1 results by the prescribed time would be a challenge.

In its request to the markets regulator, IL&FS underscored that Regulation 102 of the Listing Regulations allows SEBI to relax the strict applicability or enforcement of the norms in the interest of investors and securities market, and for the development of the securities market.

On October 1, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had directed the company to reconstitute its board of directors. In a stock exchange notice, IL&FS said multiple changes have been implemented following the NCLT directive.

“It is submitted that the company’s track record in complying with the rules and regulations issued by SEBI, at all points of time, is unblemished. The company has, over the years, maintained the highest standards of transparency and corporate governance,” it said in its note.

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