Sirtex penalised for alleged continuous disclosure breach

Sirtex Medical (ASX: SRX) has paid a penalty of $100,000 after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) issued an infringement notice for an alleged failure by the company to comply with its continuous disclosure obligations.

The infringement notice was issued following an announcement on 9 December 2016 by Sirtex to the ASX, stating that projected dose sales growth was likely to be in the order of 4–6% for the first half of the financial year ending 30 June 2017 and 5–11% for the full year. This is despite the fact that Sirtex had previously announced its anticipation that “double digit dose sales growth will continue” for the 2017 financial year, with dose sales growth for the previous financial year having been 16.4%.

ASIC alleges that Sirtex ought to have been aware of the downgraded forecasts at least two weeks earlier than the December announcement, on 21 November, and as such should have disclosed the adjusted figures at this time. ASIC alleges that by failing to inform the ASX of the lower projected dose sales growth, Sirtex was in breach of its continuous disclosure obligations between 21 November 2016 and 8 December 2016.

Sirtex has denied the allegation but agreed to pay the $100,000 penalty, given the anticipated cost of contesting the infringement notice and hoping to focus on its other business priorities. The company emphasised that its compliance with the notice is not an admission of guilt or liability, as is made clear in the Corporations Act — a fact which ASIC acknowledges.