UK watchdog probes Deloitte audit of transport firm Go-Ahead

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s accounting watchdog said on Tuesday it has opened an investigation into Deloitte’s auditing over six years of Go-Ahead, a bus and rail company which was fined by the government for overcharging.

The Financial Reporting Council said in a statement it has started the investigation into the audit conducted by Deloitte, one of the world’s ‘Big Four’ accounting firms, for Go-Ahead’s financial statements between 2016 and 2021.

A spokesperson for Deloitte UK said the auditor will co-operate fully with the FRC investigation.

“Deloitte is committed to the highest standards of audit quality,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Go-Ahead said last December that an independent review revealed “serious errors” by its London and Southeastern railway franchise, LSER, which led to it overcharging the country’s transport department in contracts over several years.

Go-Ahead was fined 23.5 million pounds in March by Britain’s transport department for the overcharging.

Go-Ahead, which runs more than 6,000 buses in England and Britain’s largest passenger rail contract, said this month it plans to turn around underperforming businesses and grow in existing markets, which include Norway, Germany, Singapore and Ireland.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)