As Christine Holgate does her due diligence ahead of taking the reins from Ahmed Fahour as chief executive of Australia Post she will discover a confusing mess of segment performance numbers in the organisation’s annual reports.
Analysis of the accounts undertaken exclusively for Chanticleer show that since Fahour took over as CEO in 2011, the letters and parcels giant has restated its segment revenues, expenses and earnings before interest and tax 49 times.
In the previous five years before his appointment the accounts were restated just once.
The constant restatements make it difficult for outside observers of Australia Post to ascertain the true performance of three key businesses letters, parcels and retail.