Cordlife will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to appoint new auditors and approve directors’ fees

Cord blood bank on alert Cordlife will hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) next month to appoint new auditors and approve directors’ remuneration.

An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders will be held at Great World City East on November 14 at 10am, during which Cordlife will seek the appointment of audit firm PKF as its statutory auditor before the next annual general meeting.

In assessing PKF’s suitability for the appointment, Cordlife said its audit and risk committee considered, among other things, the adequacy of the firm’s resources to carry out the company’s ongoing audits.

It also took into account the track record of new audit partner Lee Eng Kian, who has 29 years of experience.

The proposed appointment will enable the group to save about 30 per cent on audit fees, compared to cumulative audit fees of about S$698,000 incurred in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, it added.

Cordlife’s former external auditor, KPMG, notified in April that it would not seek reappointment.

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The firm previously provided a disclaimer of opinion in its independent auditor’s report dated April 24, although this was not cited as a reason for its decision to step down as Cordlife’s external auditor.

Cordlife said KPMG’s disclaimer of opinion would be incorporated into PKF’s existing audit approach.

Voting on directors’ fees

During the EGM, the company will also seek shareholder approval to pay Cordlife directors up to S$135,000 for the financial year ending December 31, 2024. This amount must be paid quarterly as arrears.

At the company’s last annual general meeting on May 14, a proposed resolution to approve directors’ remuneration of up to S$450,000 for the same period was not approved. To date, no director fees have been paid for fiscal year 2024.