Shares in EFI crashed after the manufacturer announced it was reviewing its internal financial controls and examining the way some sales of wide-format systems had been invoiced.
EFI: review into timing of large-format equipment sales
The review means that EFI has postponed the release of its Q2 financial results. The firm’s share price fell 45.34% to a three-year low of $26.05 (£19.96) on the news. The 52-week high is $51.15.
In a statement, EFI said: ”The assessment is related to certain transactions where a customer signed a sales contract for one or more large-format printers and was invoiced, and the printer(s) were stored at a third-party in-transit warehouse prior to delivery to the end-user.”
It said it expected to report “a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting related to this matter”, and that its disclosure controls were not effective in prior financial reporting periods. EFI’s audit committee has begun an independent review into the matter.
However, EFI also said that it did not expect total revenues to be materially different from what had been previously reported.
In October 2016 the company was the subject of a highly critical report by a US investor and analyst group, which questioned various aspects of EFI’s financial reporting, including the way it reports its revenues and the efficacy of its audit board members.
Chief executive Guy Gecht subsequently refuted the claims.
Highly acquisitive EFI posted record sales of $992.1m in 2016, narrowly missing Gecht’s $1bn turnover goal.
EFI said an announcement with a new date for the Q2 results would follow in due course. https://www.printweek.com/prin...t-after-sales-review