iProperty write down $4.6 million after ASIC review

iProperty Group has been forced to write down $4.6 million from its Singapore business after an intervention by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

The ASX-listed company failed to account for a change in market conditions in its December 2013 financial accounts.

The business owns property listing websites throughout south-east Asia, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. 

The company has updated its accounts for June to reflect the impairment.

ASIC welcomed the announcement. 

ASIC reviewed the iProperty Group financial report as part of its ongoing financial reporting surveillance program.

Following inquiries of the company to understand its impairment testing methodology, ASIC questioned the recoverable amount of the Singapore business, and in particular, the iProperty Group’s use of fair value as a basis for estimating the recoverable value.

iProperty Group had applied AASB 13 Fair Value Measurement for the first time for the reporting period ended 31 December 2013.

By estimating fair value, iProperty Group was required to apply that standard’s definition of fair value which requires entities to maximise the use of market-based inputs and assumptions.