Knights' Audit Statement Clears The Air

Newcastle Knights' auditors Crosbie Warren Sinclair has today released a statement clarifying some misleading assumptions reported in the media about the current audit being undertaken to meet the requirements of the Knights take over and the reporting process to the Member's Club.

The current audit report being prepared is for the calendar year January 1st till 31st December 2012 but as the attached statement makes clear, this was not possible to be completed under the time-lines signed off by the previous Knights management.

Hunter Sports Group CEO Troy Palmer was confident this statement would clarify a situation that has been clouded by comments from former management and others without all the information.

"We welcome this statement which will clarify some confusion for Members Club Directors. It is a sad situation when people just can't let go and continue to run with personal agendas, even when it is to the detriment of the club," Palmer said.

"I'm confident all the key milestones will be achieved in line with the clubs audit. Hopefully, this is another step to ensure future stories are about our football team and not personal agendas played out in the media," he concluded.

Troy Palmer and Knights CEO Matt Gidley will meet with the Members Board later today to ensure all questions on the future of the Knights under the HSG can be addressed.


Auditors Statement from Crosbie Warren Sinclair:

Our firm has been the Auditor for the Newcastle Knights for the past 13 years, with the last completed audit being for the year ended 31 December 2011. We were engagedby Hunter Valley Sports Group Pty Ltd and Newcastle Knights Pty Ltd to prepare a report of factual findings for the 2011 year in relation to the reporting obligations pertaining to sponsorship, the bank guarantee and junior rugby league expenditure, which was completed and presented to the Members earlier this year. I can confirm that Crosbie Warren Sinclair has been engaged in an audit capacity this year by Hunter Valley Sports Group Pty Ltd and Newcastle Knights Pty Ltd to undertake an audit of the obligations in relation to sponsorship, the bank guarantee and junior rugby league expenditure for the 2012 year. We have commenced our audit last week.

Under the original agreements the statement from the auditor in relation to the obligations above was required to be presented to the Members Club by 15 December each year, however as the financial reporting year is to 31 December, this obviously could not be completed and issued for the full year by that date. We understand that the recently proposed amendments will allow the audit to be completed and our report to be issued by 21 January each year.

BRENT PERKINS
Partner
17 December 2012