Corporate Travel Management shares crash after £80m overcharging scandal revealed

Corporate Travel Management shares plunged on their relisting as the company’s suspension from the ASX was finally lifted.

In a grim resumption to trading, the stock immediately plunged 80 per cent to $3.23, when it began trading again on Thursday.

The stock last closed at $16.07 in August last year, before it faced a long-term share suspension as it was unable to lodge its 2025 financial statements.

Under ASX listing rules, businesses must report their earnings twice a year in February and August.

This is two months after the half-year and full-year results have been finalised.

The travel agency was delisted last year due to a fight with auditors who refused to sign off on the company’s full year books after discovering it had overcharged customers in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand clients by as much as $272m.

When KPMG went through the businesses books as part of a forensic audit, it found Corporate Travel had been overcharging the British government over a four-year period starting back in 2022.

In total Corporate Travel revealed it had overcharged the British government £80m ($A150m).

The business head of UK operations Michael Healy was sacked in December when it emerged he had allegedly forged agreements to repay clients left out of pocket.

Jamie Pherous, who founded Corporate Travel and led it on to the ASX in 2010 as its chief executive, walked away in February, although remained a consultant for six months.

He is also one of the businesses largest shareholders with 16.6 million shares.

Corporate Travel management chief executive and managing director Ana Pedersen touched on the scandal, noting progress in paying the money back.

“We also made substantial progress on customer remediation, with approximately 78 per cent of refunds agreed or close to finalisation, supported by the recently announced $175

On Wednesday Corporate Travel reissued its books saying net profits came in at $17.7m for the year to June 30, after losing $348.5m last year largely due to goodwill writedowns.