Vitura Health has confirmed it breached its own trading rules after its chairman purchased shares during a period when such transactions were prohibited.
Chairman Robert Iervasi received approval to purchase 344,500 shares from company secretary and chief financial officer Tom Howitt, following the publication of the company's half-year financial results on February 26.
After the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) raised questions about the transaction, Vitura conceded that clearance had been granted one business day before the closed period had actually expired.
The company described the error as an "administrative oversight" and confirmed no disciplinary measures would be pursued.
Vitura pointed out that both the financial results and a "cleansing notice" — confirming no further market-sensitive information remained undisclosed — had already been released to the market before the share purchase took place.
In its response to the ASX, Vitura said: "On receipt of the letter [from the ASX] the company identified that… the VIT trading policy defined 'closed period' as expiring at the close of trading the business day after the release and not the day that the relevant documents were released.
"Mr Iervasi sought and obtained trading clearance prior to trading. This technical breach of the trading policy was due to an administrative error by the company secretary in confirming clearance 24 hours earlier than prescribed under the trading policy."
When the ASX asked whether the company planned to take any disciplinary or remedial steps, Vitura said it would not, given that both the half-year results and the cleansing notice had been made public before the shares changed hands.
The company also noted that the shares were acquired at 8.6 cents, a price 26% above the current share price.
Vitura said it has "reminded all VIT staff of their obligations under the trading policy" and "regrets the trading clearance was inadvertently given earlier than permitted".
The company added that it considered its trading policy and compliance processes to be "adequate" and that the oversight caused "no loss or damage to market integrity".
