Steinhoff International has suspended former chief financial officer Ben La Grange and ex-director Stehan Grobler in the first action taken against executives by the company as part of an ongoing investigation into the retailer group’s finances following an accounting scandal.

Crisis-hit South African retailer, Steinhoff — which owns the Dealz-Poundland discount stores in Ireland — is considering “all of its options” to support its liquidity, after a report that it could sell a stake in its African unit.

Steinhoff, the parent group of the Dealz and Poundland discount stores, will have to restate its 2015 accounts and maybe earlier figures, the South African retailer has said, having already warned on its 2016 numbers.