Newcastle-headquartered bus and rail giant Go-Ahead Group, recently stripped of the Southeastern rail franchise, has temporarily suspended trading in its shares and its 2.50% guaranteed bond due 2024 “pending finalisation of results for the year ended 3 July 2021.”

The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) announced on September 28 that the Operator of Last Resort would take over the running of Go-Ahead’s London & South Eastern Railway (LSER) services from October 17.

The DfT said the decision followed “an investigation which identifies over £25 million of taxpayer money was not declared by LSER, amounting to a significant breach of the franchise agreement, undermining trust.”

In a stock exchange statement on Tuesday, Go-Ahead said: “As announced on 9 December 2021, the company and its auditors, Deloitte, concluded that the additional time that they needed to finalise the company’s audited financial statements for the year ended 3 July 2021 meant that it would not be possible for the company to publish the FY21 Results by 3 January 2022.

“As 3 January 2022 is the last date permitted for publication of the FY21 Results under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules … and the FCA’s listing rules, following consultation with the FCA, the company has requested that the listing of the company’s ordinary shares … and the company’s 2.50% guaranteed bond due 2024 be temporarily suspended with effect from 7.30 a.m. on 4 January 2022.

“The company intends to request a restoration of the listing of its ordinary shares and its bond on publication of the FY21 Results.

“The group continues to work closely with Deloitte to ensure that the FY21 Results are published as soon as possible.

“This is expected to be before the end of January 2022.”