The Australian company which ran the Bibby Stockholm asylum-seeker barge in Dorset has started repaying some of the \u00a380 million it overcharged UK clients, including the British government.<\/p>\n
Corporate Travel Management (CTM) has been in a trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) since August after financial irregularities were discovered in the company\u2019s UK accounts.<\/p>\n
KPMG is completing an audit into CTM\u2019s UK operations to determine the total amount owed to clients, including government departments.<\/p>\n
The Cabinet Office, which has awarded \u00a399.5 million in contracts to CTM over the past decade, has confirmed that the Australian travel company had refunded some of the overcharged money.<\/p>\n
It is understood CTM made the first refund to the Cabinet Office in December, and the company is working with the Crown Commercial Service and Government Commercial Function.<\/p>\n
The total amount so far repaid to the UK government, or how much is still owed, has not been revealed.<\/p>\n
But analysts have questioned the ability of CTM to repay its debts given that it only has A$148 million (\u00a377 million) in cash assets and it has still not released its 2025 fiscal accounts or announced when its stock will be traded again on the ASX.<\/p>\n
The company had previously warned that the total amount due to UK clients could exceed \u00a380 million but has yet to confirm any repayments in updates to the market.<\/p>\n
CTM is a major player in the corporate travel market in the UK but also won contracts for hotel quarantine during the Covid pandemic and accommodation for asylum seekers.<\/p>\n