Two weeks after Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd issued the company’s annual report, a calculation error that boosted the company’s profits to the effect of $41.74 million was discovered, leading to a revision of the original report last night.
According to a note included in the revised edition, which has been filed with the Australian Securities Exchange, changes were made to 14 pages of the report in order to rectify the error. The miscalculation fortunately did not affect the outcome of the publically listed company’s profit from continuing operations after tax.
“The error identified in the parent entity’s financial results related to transactions between entities within the group that were eliminated on consolidation,” the retailer said.
A second blunder also saw the iconic retailer revise calculation errors in the company’s remuneration report, which provided details on five of the company’s highest paid executives. The blunders apparently occurred when compensation of the top two executives in Harvey Norman’s Slovenian sector were miscalculated.
One of Harvey Norman’s Slovenian chief executive officers, B Callard, was initially reported to receive $419,315 in compensation and a base salary of $142,642. The revised edition of the remuneration report shows a dramatic jump to $841,099 in compensation and a base salary of $649,800.
The second Slovenian chief executive officer, J Weiden, was not included on the original report. However, after calculation errors were rectified, the revised version ranked him as the second most highly paid executive in Harvey Norman’s consolidated entity.
This saw J Elmasri, Harvey Norman’s Irish general manager of furniture and bedding, removed from the list of the company’s five most highly paid positions and land in sixth place.