The AGN Abstained From Commenting On the Financial Statements of Aerolineas Argentinas
<p style="text-align:justify">Due to the "uncertainties" detected, the control body could not determine whether the company's balance sheets for 2008 were reasonable. As of December of that year, the National State transferred almost $ 1 billion and reported losses of $ 2,884 million. Airports Argentina 2000 and ARBA claim $ 656 million.</p>
Based on the "limitations on the scope" of its work, and the "uncertainties" detected, the General Audit of the Nation (AGN) had to abstain from commenting on the financial statements of Aerolineas Argentinas for fiscal year 2008.
Abstention of opinion is an opinion in which technicians can not assess whether the economic and financial indicators of the auditee, in this case the flag line, are reasonable. Within the range of conclusions in which the AGN works, abstention is at the negative end, along with adverse opinions, while on the other side are classified reports - where there are exceptions that prevent a totally positive judgment -, and The favorable ones. However, the audit was not the only one that made that decision regarding Aerolíneas: a private consulting firm, Price Waterhouse and Co SRL, reached the same professional opinion on the 2007 financial statements.
For AGN, one of the limitations it faced was that in 2008 "there were insufficient controls" that allowed for "timely detection and correction of errors" because the company, which was rescued financially by the State in September of that year, did not Had an internal audit unit.
The financial statements of Aerolineas indicate that as of December 31, 2008, losses of $ 2,884 million were recorded. A figure that if added the negative balances of previous years, reaches $3.875 million.
La línea de bandera enfrenta una serie de demandas en su contra. Sobre esto, la Auditoría dice: "We have not had enough information to validate the parameters used by the Company (Airlines) for the purposes of quantification and sufficiency of the pension amounts." This means that the control body could not determine how the company does to calculate how much money it should stipulate for the causes it faces. In addition, it was detected that "the administration of the portfolio of judgments is decentralized and the information generated by each branch is not consolidated in the central house". Nevertheless, the control body noted that they are "approximately 2,300 causes of different magnitude, of which are quantified 1,363 claims for $ 305,942,675."
The inventory of spare parts, on the other hand, gives an accounting balance of $ 116,977,260, although "the goods that make up" cannot be identified, because the listing is not backed by a "valued physical inventory".
The AGN adds that, in the case of Unused Bills, Aerolineas does not have a system to support the figure of the balance of $ 479.8 million.
Pasive
As part of Aerolineas' liabilities, the Audit report highlights that the company faces two claims, driven by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 and the Buenos Aires Province Collection Agency (ARBA) totaling $ 656 million.
On the one hand, the concessionaire of the air terminals demands the collection of exchange differences in the aeronautical rate for flights abroad. They are about $ 296 million that could be increased by interest, fees and costs.
And, on the other, ARBA claims $ 360 million for the gross revenue tax on international passenger transportation; A cause that, at the time of the study of the AGN, was in "different procedural stages".
Transfers
Aerolineas returned to be administered by the National State in 2008. Until December 31st of that year there were transfers of funds for $ 931,556,682 to face current expenditures. Last year, that number increased to $ 3,140,892,648 which was allocated to remuneration, fuel, and other operating expenses.
This exercise, meanwhile, the National Budget enables the issuance of letters to buy aircraft from Airbus and Embraer.