Financial Follies

MCI reduced its pretax income for 2000 and 2001 by $74 billion, the final tally on the fallout from an accounting scandal that led to charges against its former CEO. According to a long-awaited 2002 financial report, most of the $74.4 billion in restatements, or $59.8 billion, was tied to goodwill write-offs and write-downs in the value of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment in 2000 and 2001. A total of $5.8 billion in restatements was related to what MCI called “errors in the application of purchase accounting” for acquisitions dating back to 1993. Another $4.8 billion was taken as a charge to pretax income to reflect the correct value of certain assets that were improperly reduced by accounting irregularities. http://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0312mcichops.html

MCI reduced its pretax income for 2000 and 2001 by $74 billion, the final tally on the fallout from an accounting scandal that led to charges against its former CEO. According to a long-awaited 2002 financial report, most of the $74.4 billion in restatements, or $59.8 billion, was tied to goodwill write-offs and write-downs in the value of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment in 2000 and 2001. A total of $5.8 billion in restatements was related to what MCI called “errors in the application of purchase accounting” for acquisitions dating back to 1993. Another $4.8 billion was taken as a charge to pretax income to reflect the correct value of certain assets that were improperly reduced by accounting irregularities.

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0312mcichops.html

Nortel unseated its CFO and controller after stating that it would delay filing its 2003 annual report with the SEC as it continues an internal review begun in October. An interim CFO and controller were named as replacements while Nortel re-examines the “establishment, timing of, support for and release to income” of certain accruals and provisions in prior periods. The company said it believes it will need to revise its previously announced unaudited results for the full year and results in some of its quarterly reports for 2003. The company also said it would restate its previously filed financial results for one or more earlier periods. Nortel said it could not provide a timeframe for completing the work.

https://www.nwfusion.com/edge/news/2004/0315nortecfoa.html

Covad has been taking bold steps to establish itself as an early participant in selling converged network services to small and midsized businesses. The most significant of these is the purchase of GoBeam, a provider of VoIP services to businesses. In combination with Covad’s established DSL Internet access business, the merged entity will have a leg up on the data/voice market. The $48 million stock deal comes at a time when Covad’s bottom line has been red – net loss was $12.8 million in the fourth quarter of last year – but the company has also raised $125 million to fund its strategic convergence push.

https://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/0312covad.html