SEBI Extends Time Line for Submission of Financial Results to 31 July 2020

Ashish M. Shaji

30 Jun, 2020

Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) extended the deadline for the submission of financial results to 31 July 2020. It implies that listed companies have got more time to declare their financial results for the quarter ended in March 2020.

Why has the timeline being extended?

The decision regarding extending the timeline for submission of financial results was made by SEBI considering the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. As the country was under complete lockdown during the months of April and May, the companies requested for an extended period of time to finalize financials for the March quarter.

The extension of the timeline was also owing to the fact that subsidiaries and associates were in the containment zones that made the audit process challenging and due to other operational challenges arising out of Covid-19 pandemic.

SEBI said that it had received representations from listed entities, CA (Chartered Accountant) firms and industry bodies requesting for an extension of time for preparing, finalising and submitting financial results for the listed companies for the quarter/half-year/financial year, 31 March 2020.

Time Extension under the previous circular

SEBI had earlier in the month of March come out with a circular that gave the companies extended time till the end of June to declare their quarterly financial results. The regulator took the decision under the regulations 33 and 52 of the SEBI LODR (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015^[1]. This has now been further extended for 1 month (from June to the end of July).

Final relaxations from SEBI

SEBI has extended the timeline again for submitting the financial results under regulation 33 of the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations by a month to 31 July, 2020 for the quarter and the year ending (31 March, 2020).

The timeline is also extended under regulation 52 of the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements (LODR) for the submission of half-yearly and or annual financial results for the period ending 31 March 2020 for entities that have listed Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), Non-Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares (NCRPS), CPs, MDS.

Conclusion