UPDATE 3-Chemours reveals certain financial revisions after internal review
(Adds details on first-quarter forecast)
March 27 (Reuters) - Chemours Co on Wednesday reported a smaller loss for the fourth quarter and announced revisions to certain past financial results following an internal review into accounting issues.
The internal review revealed earlier this month that its senior executives had manipulated some vendor payments and collections of receivables in the fourth quarter of 2023, in part to meet free cash flow targets tied to their incentives.
Chemours said on Wednesday the review identified "material weaknesses" in its internal control over financial reporting and resulted in revisions of its balance sheet as of Dec. 31, 2022, and its cash flow statements for 2021 and 2022.
It also led to "immaterial revisions" to financial statements for March, June and September, 2023. The review did not result in any misstatements of the company's financial statements or disclosures.
Shares of the chemical company fell 8% in trading after the bell.
Chemours had earlier said its preliminary results would not be impacted by the internal review and later appointed chemical industry veteran Denise Dignam as CEO.
It reported a net loss of $18 million, or 12 cents per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $97 million, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier, helped by lower costs.
The twice-delayed results came a month after the company placed its top three executives, including CEO Mark Newman, on administrative leave and said it was looking into potential "material weaknesses" in its financial reporting.
Chemical companies have been trying to reduce costs to combat low demand and destocking trends in the past year that were driven by weaker-than-expected growth in China and across major economies.
Separately, Chemours said it expected first-quarter net sales to be flat to down sequentially and capital expenditures of about $100 million.
It also expects a 10% sequential decline in net sales for the Titanium Technologies segment owing to seasonally weak demand for titanium, and a sequential 10% decline in the Advanced Performance Materials unit's net sales due to softness in certain end markets.
(Reporting by Tanay Dhumal and Kabir Dweit in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
