Adecco will not restate its results after all.
The world’s largest temporary-staffing company announced that after a detailed audit by Ernst & Young and an independent investigation by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP, it will not need to revise any of its 2003 financials.
John Bowmer, executive chairman of the board for the Geneva, Switzerland-based company, noted that Ernst & Young will deliver an unqualified audit opinion with the full consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. “The identification by our auditors of potential risks which caused this unexpected audit sign off delay was something that the board and management took very seriously,” Bowmer added in a statement.
In January, Adecco announced that it would not complete its 2003 audit on time, partly due to material weaknesses in internal controls in the North American operations of its Adecco Staffing division. At the time, the company added that the delay was due to the need to resolve “possible accounting, control, and compliance issues” in operations in a number of countries.
Adecco also stated at the time that it would need to restate its earnings for the first three quarters of 2003.
The company and a number of its directors and officers face class-action lawsuits in the United States, as well as inquiries by U.S. and Swiss regulators, according to the Associated Press.