Financier Rasul Rysmambetov has published a study of the financial statements of JSC "NC "Kazakhstan Temir Zholy" (KTZ) for 2008–2024, prepared on the basis of open data. In it, the author drew attention to long-standing audit qualifications, a retrospective adjustment of more than 32 billion tenge, an increase in advances to suppliers to 463 billion tenge, and other indicators that, in his view, require further examination.
WHAT FORMED THE BASIS OF THE STUDY
The study was prepared on the basis of 37 audit reports from the company for 2008–2024 and 13 sets of financial statements from the Financial Reporting Depository. The auditor throughout all periods under review was Deloitte LLP.
The author emphasises that the conclusions are based solely on published documents and do not constitute evidence of violations, but rather represent a list of forensic indicators and questions requiring further investigation.
WHAT RECEIVED PARTICULAR ATTENTION
One of the key findings of the study was that, according to the published statements, from 2009 to 2023 the auditor annually expressed a qualified opinion on the separate financial statements of the parent company.
As noted in the study, in 2024 the company retrospectively adjusted its figures, reducing retained earnings and the carrying amount of investments by approximately 32.3 billion and 31.1 billion tenge respectively. The financier links this to the adjustment of previously recognised asset revaluations contributed to the capital of subsidiary undertakings.
WHAT IS SAID ABOUT ADVANCES AND THE INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
According to the study, the volume of long-term advances to suppliers of fixed assets grew from 101.6 billion tenge in 2022 to 463 billion tenge in 2023, and stood at 384.2 billion tenge at the end of 2024.
According to the study's data, the largest amounts related to the supply of passenger carriages, the construction of railway tracks, and the procurement of locomotives. Rasul Rysmambetov notes that certain advances remained almost unchanged over the course of the year, and considers such transactions to be areas warranting additional scrutiny.
At the same time, it is noted that expenditure on the acquisition of fixed assets in 2023–2024 exceeded 1.55 trillion tenge, and the financing of the investment programme was accompanied by the raising of new borrowed capital.
LIQUIDITY AND DEBT BURDEN
The author also draws attention to the gap between profit growth and the company's liquidity position. According to the data presented, the current liquidity deficit widened from 382.7 billion tenge at the end of 2023 to 929.4 billion tenge at the end of 2024, while net profit attributable to the shareholder stood at 157.8 billion tenge.
The study states that the company continued to attract financing, including through shareholder loans, but the reasons for this trend are not analysed within the study itself.
WHAT OTHER ISSUES WERE RAISED
Individual sections of the study are devoted to financial guarantees on the obligations of subsidiary and related entities, transactions involving certain assets, the financing of non-core projects, changes in the structure of investments, transactions with subsidiary companies, and the trend in accounts receivable.
The author also highlights the growth in guarantees on loans to subsidiary companies, the increase in the parent company's investments, and certain transactions that, in his view, require further examination.
WHAT ADDITIONAL AREAS ARE PROPOSED FOR REVIEW
The concluding section of the study publishes a list of 17 areas for further analysis. These include decisions on asset revaluation, large advance payments, transactions with subsidiary companies, financial guarantees, investment projects, the movement of accounts receivable, transactions involving perpetual financial instruments, and specific projects in the logistics sector.
The financier stresses that final conclusions on these matters can only be reached after review of the underlying documentation and other materials, since the study is based exclusively on publicly available financial statements.
