KPMG and one of its directors have been fined more than £1.3m for "serious" failings in their audits of Revolution Bars Group.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said the issues with the firm and director Michael Neil Frankish related to three main areas of the audits in 2015 and 2016.
The Manchester-headquartered group, which is behind the Revolution and Revolución de Cuba brands, floated on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 at 200p per share. However, its stock price has fallen almost 90% since then.
READ MORE: Revolution Bars Group returns to half-year profit and sales surge after Covid restrictions lifted
The FRC added that because the breaches were "serious but not intentional", KPMG's fine was reduced from £1.25m to £875,000 while Mr Frankish’s was cut from £500,000 to £35,000.
The ruling comes after KPMG was hit with a £13m fine in August 2021 over serious misconduct in its role in the sale of Lancashire-headquartered bed maker Silentnight.
KPMG will also pay executive counsel’s costs of the investigation.
Jamie Symington, deputy executive counsel to the FRC, said: "KPMG’s failings in this case persisted for two years and across multiple areas.
"They included complex supplier arrangements which the FRC had previously identified as an area of regulatory focus, albeit that in this case their impact on the financial statements was minor.
"The audit client was a newly listed and relatively small company, but the breaches were nevertheless serious, including lack of professional scepticism.
"The FRC has required KPMG and Mr Frankish to take action to mitigate or prevent breaches recurring.
"The package of financial and non-financial sanctions should help to improve the quality of future audits."
