Endava places CFO on leave after auditors raise contract-accounting concerns

Endava plc, the NYSE-listed UK IT-services group, told investors on Monday that its outside auditors had questioned how it accounted for certain customer and supplier agreements, that its finance chief was on leave, and that its annual report would miss the company’s usual calendar.

In May, for the quarter ended March 31, revenue was £178.5 million, down 8.4% from £194.8 million a year earlier, or 6.4% at constant currency. Adjusted profit before tax, a non-IFRS measure Endava reports, was £3.2 million, or 1.8% of revenue, against £24.6 million, or 12.6%, a year before. The IFRS loss before tax was £372.0 million, including a £364.6 million goodwill impairment. Cash and cash equivalents were £48.4 million and borrowings were £195.8 million, against £59.3 million and £180.9 million at June 30, 2025. Operating cash flow was a £0.4 million outflow; adjusted free cash flow was a £3.1 million outflow.

The stock closed Monday’s regular session at $2.79, up $0.01, or 0.36%, a market value of $149 million. The company issued the announcement after that session ended. By 7:55 p.m. Eastern the after-hours bid-ask mid was $2.55, 8.6% below the close and matching the 52-week low, with a wide spread between a $2.38 bid and a $2.72 ask. Six US-listed ETFs hold about $623,000 of the stock combined, and no weight exceeds 0.05%.

What the 6-K said, and what it left open

The filing does not name the auditor, the customers or suppliers, or the periods under review. It does not say prior financial statements can still be relied on, and it does not say they cannot. It announces no restatement and does not withdraw the fiscal 2026 guidance Endava last published in May.

“The independent investigation is ongoing,” the company said, “and to ensure the fairness of that process, the Company does not plan further comment pending conclusion of the investigation.”

Acting on its Audit Committee’s recommendation, the board placed Mark Thurston, chief financial officer since April 2015, on administrative leave effective Monday and installed Conor McShane of AlixPartners LLP as interim CFO, a decision the board had taken on Friday. Thurston’s leave, Endava said, is pending an investigation by independent outside counsel for the Audit Committee, opened after the auditors raised those contract-accounting concerns.

McShane is a partner and managing director at AlixPartners. The firm lists his work as mergers and acquisitions and turnaround and restructuring. The 6-K also designated him principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. Endava did not describe why it chose a restructuring adviser for the interim seat.

Results now sit on a November 2 clock

Relative to its usual schedule, Endava said it will publish its fourth-quarter and full-year results for the year ended June 30, host the related call, and file its Annual Report on Form 20-F on a later timetable. It intends to complete those items by November 2, which it called the deadline under applicable SEC rules. Last year the company reported fiscal 2025 results on September 4.

The same May outlook, which Monday’s filing did not reopen, still stands as the last official guide: fourth-quarter revenue of £181.0 million to £185.0 million and adjusted diluted EPS of £0.09 to £0.13; full-year revenue of £721.8 million to £725.8 million and adjusted diluted EPS of £0.45 to £0.49. Fiscal 2025 revenue was £772.3 million.

The pattern of a CFO leave, an outside-counsel review, and delayed accounts has shown up before. In January 2024 Archer-Daniels-Midland placed its CFO on administrative leave pending an investigation into Nutrition-segment accounting and named an interim. ADM said in its own filing that day that it expected to delay its earnings release and Form 10-K from its historical schedule; in January 2026 the SEC announced settled charges against that company. That history is a map of how these disclosures can unfold, not a reading of Endava’s books.

The last audited annual accounts still on file cover the year ended June 30, 2025. The last quarterly update is May’s. What a holder has until November 2 is that picture, a delayed 20-F, and an investigation the company will not discuss.