Adecco sets date to come clean
The world’s largest employment agency, Adecco, plans to publish its delayed 2003 results on April 20, after a check of its books revealed no major irregularities.
The company hopes to repair its image and boost its share value, which both took a battering when it disclosed accounting problems in January.
In a statement, Adecco’s board of directors reiterated that to date there was no evidence demonstrating “major misappropriations or irregularities” that would be financially significant to the company as a whole.
Investors welcomed the news, pushing up Adecco shares by more than three per cent at the opening of trading on Friday.
Harm
But based on Thursday’s market close of SFr69.60 ($53.76), the share value was still about 15 per cent lower than before Adecco revealed the problems in a surprise statement.
The announcement on January 12 sent the company’s value tumbling.
Analysts believe the financial impact of the accounting woes – which have cost the chief financial officer and the head of North American operations their jobs – will be under €100 million (SFr157.85 million).
But they add that the financial impact might be higher due to the harm done to the agency’s client and investor relations.
“Storm in a teacup”
Analysts at the Aargau cantonal bank in a note described the problem at Adecco as “a storm in a teacup and a masterpiece of communication errors”.
The company is nonetheless facing at least four investigations, one from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as a number of lawsuits from disgruntled shareholders.
Adecco, which has its headquarters just outside Zurich, added in the statement that business at the end of February was “healthy”.
Sales in February had grown faster in local currencies than during the same time last year, it says.
Reputation
On Wednesday, Adecco appointed a new finance chief to take over the North American operations, sending a clear signal that it was keen to sort out the business at the heart of the bookkeeping issues.
Two key shareholders, including Swiss billionaire Klaus Jacobs, last week gave support to the company, with Jacobs announcing he would rejoin the board of directors.
Jacobs in January warned that management had until April to restore investor trust. Shareholders had then feared that Jacobs was planning to sell his almost 12 per cent stake in Adecco.
swissinfo with agencies
Adecco will finally publish its financial figures for 2003 on April 20. At the same time first quarter 2004 figures will be announced.
The shareholders’ annual meeting is scheduled for May 26.
The company has repeated that it is facing no major financial irregularities.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.