Datalex chairman resigns with ‘immediate effect’

Datalex's chairman Paschal Taggart has resigned, leaving the beleaguered travel software company without a permanent chief executive or chairman.

In an update to the stock exchange issued on Monday, the company said Mr Taggart had resigned “with immediate effect”. Mr Taggart had previously indicated he’d resign at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

The company’s agm is typically held at the end of June. However, it has been delayed this year because the company’s audit is not due to be filed until the end of this month. The audit was delayed by a review of the company’s accounting and finances, which determined that revenue, adjusted earnings and profit had been misstated for the first half of 2018.

The review also confirmed that recognition of services revenue for the half year to June 30th, 2018 was not in line with Datalex’s accounting policy and was materially overstated.

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It is expected that the agm will take place a few weeks after completion of the full-year audit. No date has been set yet.

Former Actavo chief executive Seán Corkery will take on some of Mr Taggart’s responsibilities as deputy chairman.

The company also recently lost its chief financial officer who is understood to have found the issues at the company. In May, Niall O'Sullivan joined Datalex as its new chief financial officer.

Mr O'Sullivan joined from Google where he had responsibility for accounting, financial compliance and contractual controls for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Irregularities

Shares in Datalex lost more than 60 per cent of their value after the group issued a profit warning in mid-January and revealed suspected accounting irregularities that were subsequently confirmed.

The company’s shares were suspended from trading in May, after it said it would not be in a position to publish its full-year results by an end-April deadline to comply with market transparency rules.

Datalex's problems have seen it rely on its main shareholder, Dermot Desmond, for a €3.85 million equity injection and €6.15 million loan in recent months.