The Big Four accounting firm KPMG resigned as auditor of Cineworld after 15 years, sending shares in the cinema operator down by more than 8 per cent. Although Cineworld framed the change in its auditor as good corporate governance, a resignation letter from KPMG hinted at a disagreement over fees. “The reason connected with our ceasing to hold office is the holding of a competitive tender for the audit, in which we declined to participate as we did not consider that it was likely that we would be able to agree acceptable commercial terms,” the firm said. PWC, another Big Four accountant, was appointed as Cineworld’s auditor with immediate effect. KPMG was paid £600,000 to audit Cineworld in 2017 and took a further £1.3 million…

Source: The Times June 20, 2019 23:09 UTC