Unitec Fibres Limited disclosed Rs 7.6344 crore payables gap

Unitec Fibres Limited disclosed differences between statements submitted to lending banks and its books, audited financial statements and restated financial statements for the three years through March 31, 2026. The largest disclosed difference was Rs 7.6344 crore in trade payables at March 31, 2025; the company said its lending banks had not specifically objected as of the prospectus date.

What did Unitec Fibres disclose about the bank-reporting mismatch?

Unitec Fibres disclosed that inventory, trade receivables and trade payables in statements submitted to lending banks differed from corresponding accounting balances. The disclosure covers March 31, 2024, March 31, 2025 and March 31, 2026, and the differences were certified by its peer-review auditors through a certificate dated September 11, 2026.

The company described the figures as differences between bank-submitted statements and its books of account, audited financial statements and restated financial statements. It did not state in this risk disclosure that the differences resulted in an adjustment to the restated financial statements. Inventory, trade receivables and trade payables are working-capital categories, referring respectively to goods held for sale or use, amounts due from customers, and amounts owed to suppliers.

Trade payables were the largest category in each of the three reported periods. At March 31, 2025, the Rs 7.6344 crore trade-payables difference exceeded the inventory difference of Rs 1.8221 crore and the trade-receivables difference of Rs 12.16 lakh. The disclosed scale makes payables the principal component of the bank-reporting mismatch.

How did Unitec Fibres' payables gap change over three years?

Unitec Fibres' trade-payables difference rose from Rs 5.1517 crore at March 31, 2024 to Rs 7.6344 crore at March 31, 2025, before declining to Rs 7.0791 crore at March 31, 2026. The March 31, 2026 difference was Rs 55.53 lakh lower than at March 31, 2025, but remained Rs 1.9274 crore above the March 31, 2024 figure.

Inventory differences moved differently across the same periods. The inventory difference fell from Rs 4.2552 crore at March 31, 2024 to Rs 1.8221 crore at March 31, 2025, then increased to Rs 1.9315 crore at March 31, 2026. Trade receivables fell from Rs 1.9542 crore at March 31, 2024 to Rs 12.16 lakh at March 31, 2025 and Rs 64,000 at March 31, 2026.

The comparison shows that trade receivables recorded the largest reduction by March 31, 2026, while trade payables remained the largest difference in all three years. At March 31, 2026, the Rs 7.0791 crore payables difference was about 3.7 times the Rs 1.9315 crore inventory difference. Unitec Fibres did not provide the underlying balances in the bank statements within this risk factor, so the source does not allow calculation of the differences as a share of total inventory, receivables or payables.

Why did Unitec Fibres say its bank statements differed from its books?

Unitec Fibres said the differences primarily arose from variations in the basis, timing and scope of information used for bank statements compared with its books of account. For inventory, the company said statements were prepared for banking purposes using applicable reporting requirements and information available at the relevant time. This identifies a reporting-basis and timing explanation rather than one common cause for all three categories.

For trade receivables, Unitec Fibres attributed differences mainly to subsequent information on trade discounts, shortages and quality deductions. A trade discount reduces the amount collectible from a customer, while shortages and quality deductions can alter a customer's payment for quantity or product-quality matters. The receivables difference declined from Rs 1.9542 crore at March 31, 2024 to Rs 64,000 at March 31, 2026.

For trade payables, Unitec Fibres said bank statements required reporting specified categories of vendors, while its books included amounts payable to all vendors. This scope difference was the company's stated explanation for the payables differences of Rs 5.1517 crore, Rs 7.6344 crore and Rs 7.0791 crore at the three respective year ends. For that explanation to continue to account for future differences, the vendor categories required for bank reporting would need to remain narrower than all vendors recorded in the books.

Have Unitec Fibres' banks objected to the disclosed differences?

Unitec Fibres said its lending banks had not raised any objection specifically in relation to the differences as of the prospectus date, and that its sanctioned banking facilities had continued to be renewed and extended. A sanctioned banking facility is a credit limit approved by a lender. Renewal and extension show the facilities continued, but the disclosure does not say that lenders treated the differences as permanently reconciled.

The company also said that lending banks, regulatory authorities or other stakeholders could seek clarification, reconciliation or adjustment, or take a different view. Unitec Fibres identified potential adverse findings, adjustments, regulatory action and effects on reputation, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. The disclosed absence of a bank-specific objection therefore does not resolve the possibility of later review.

The risk factor follows a separate disclosure on key audit matters and an emphasis of matter in audit reports for FY 2023-24, FY 2024-25 and FY 2025-26. Those matters included statutory-return reconciliation, balance confirmations, classification of borrowings, and micro, small and medium enterprise dues and interest on delayed payments. Unitec Fibres said the matters were evaluated and addressed in preparing the restated financial statements, while cautioning that future discrepancies or adjustments could still arise.

What does the mismatch mean for Unitec Fibres' working-capital reporting?

The disclosure means that Unitec Fibres' financial-statement balances should be distinguished from figures supplied to lenders, particularly for trade payables. Its FY 2025-26 restated cash-flow statement reported Rs 4.0024 crore of net cash from operating activities, Rs 45.0846 crore used in investing activities and Rs 38.7379 crore from financing activities. Working-capital information can affect how lenders and other stakeholders assess short-term assets and obligations supporting funding arrangements.

Unitec Fibres has not disclosed a lender objection, a regulatory finding or a resulting change to the restated financial statements arising from the differences. Its stated risk is that future reviews may seek clarification, reconciliation or adjustment. The available disclosure supports describing the matter as a divergence in the basis, timing and scope of reporting, not as a stated finding of lender default, fraud or an accounting misstatement.

The persistence of the differences depends on the stated causes. Inventory differences depend on banking reporting requirements and information available at the reporting date; receivable differences depend on later discounts, shortages and quality deductions; and payable differences depend on specified vendor categories versus all vendors in the books. Reconciliation of reporting dates, definitions and vendor scope would be the relevant mechanism for reducing future differences.

Conclusion

The disclosed differences were led by trade payables, which reached Rs 7.6344 crore at March 31, 2025 and remained Rs 7.0791 crore at March 31, 2026. Over the same period, the inventory difference declined from Rs 4.2552 crore at March 31, 2024 to Rs 1.9315 crore, while the trade-receivables difference fell from Rs 1.9542 crore to Rs 64,000.

The next point to watch is whether lending banks, regulators or other stakeholders request reconciliation or adjustment, an outcome Unitec Fibres says remains possible. The company disclosed no separate remediation plan for these reporting differences, but said its sanctioned banking facilities had continued to be renewed and extended as of the prospectus date.