Edtech major Byju’s tells investors it will file 2022 earnings by Sept
by Aditya Kalra
Education technology major Byju’s, which lost its auditor after delaying financial statements, told investors it would file audited earnings for 2022 by September and 2023 by December, a person familiar with the matter said.
Deloitte said on Thursday that it had severed ties with Byju’s, one of India’s most successful startups, over its “long-awaited” financial statements for the year ending March 2022.
Board members representing Peak XV Partners, formerly Sequoia Capital India, Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, also resigned without publicly disclosing their reasons.
The resignations are among the biggest crises for Peugeot, which was valued at $22 billion last year and backed by the likes of investor General Atlantic.
The episode raises questions about the governance of the edtech company and comes weeks after it was raided over suspicions of violating foreign exchange laws.
The source who attended the meeting said Byju’s leadership, including founder Byju Raveendran and CFO Ajay Goel, briefed about 75 shareholders on Saturday to address their concerns about the company’s finances.
Goel told investors that Byju’s will submit 2021-22 audited results to Indian regulators by September and 2022-23 earnings by the end of the year, the source said.
Byju’s, which has come to offer online and offline tutorials, declined to comment on Sunday. She did not comment on the reason for the delay in her results.
Deloitte, which cut short a stint as auditor that was due to end in 2025, said in its resignation that there was a “significant impact” on its ability to audit the company because it had not received financial records from Byju despite several reminders. Byju’s appointed BDO as the new auditor.
Byju has asked three of its board members to reconsider their resignations, Reuters reported on Friday. The sources said they collectively decided to resign after raising concerns in recent months with the leadership about audit delays and how Byju handles issues involving its lenders.
The source said the company has informed investors that it is focusing on appointing new independent directors to the board. Among the investors who have resigned from Byju’s board of directors, Peak XV said it will support the company to “strengthen its business processes and internal control mechanisms.”
- Deloitte’s auditor resigned last week, saying the financials were “long overdue.”
- Board members representing Peak XV Partners, Prosus, and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative have resigned
- The company is focused on hiring new independent directors
- Three members of the Board of Directors are asked to reconsider their resignations
- Founder Byju Raveendran (pictured), Chief Financial Officer addressed 75 shareholders’ concerns about the company’s financials
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