Logitech ends earnings probe with only minor adjustments

[September 04, 2014]  ZURICH (Reuters) - Logitech said it would make minor adjustments to past earnings due to erroneously booking inventories, bringing an end to a three-month investigation without any financial penalties or hit to current results.

Shares in the Lausanne, Switzerland-based computer accessories maker, which had unnerved investors in May when it delayed results as it came under scrutiny by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), rose in relief the firm would not face further investigation or a penalty.

On Thursday, Logitech said it would remove some income from the last quarter of 2011 and move it into the first three months of 2012.

"The restatement is not expected to materially impact fiscal years 2013 and 2014," Logitech said in a statement.

The firm said the move would not affect its cash statements in any year.

Logitech shares rose on the news. At 0954 GMT (5.54 a.m. EDT), the shares traded 1.6 percent higher, bucking a 0.2 percent fall in the European sector.

"We expect that the scrutinized accounting practice will no longer be an issue in a few weeks, with few consequences on reported earnings, in particular not because of any financial penalty," Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Andreas Mueller said.

He rates the stock at overweight.

On Wednesday, German sportswear maker Puma said it had understated its 2012 pretax profit by at least 10 million euros ($13 million) because of accounting errors.

(1 US dollar = 0.7606 euro)

(Reporting by Katharina Bart; Editing by Mark Potter)

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