PurchasePro shares hit all-time low

Thursday, May 24, 2001 | 10:44 a.m.

In a move further eroding investor and analyst confidence, Las Vegas-based PurchasePro said today it may have to adjust and restate its first quarter earnings numbers -- again.

The business-to-business e-commerce company will not be issuing its already-tardy quarterly SEC financial report until PurchasePro officials and the firm's auditors review accounting issues over the company's first-quarter figures, the company said this morning, adding the review likely will lead to another restatement of the numbers.

PurchasePro shares in mid-day trading today plunged 30 percent or 79 cents to an all-time low of $1.69. Its 52-week high of $47.75 was reached Sept. 29.

The first-quarter ended March 31, and the report was due to be filed with the SEC last week.

This news comes after PurchasePro issued a last-minute warning of a revenue shortfall April 25, then hours later canceled its conference call to discuss its financial report with investors so its accounting team could take an extra day to double-check the figures.

The tardy earnings the company released the next day disappointed investors and then turned out to be wrong, the company said this week, the day after its founder Charles Johnson Jr., either quit or was fired.

PurchasePro, a 4 1/2 year-old Internet company, develops marketplaces for buinesses to buy and sell products online. It employs a staff of 500-plus.

PurchasePro also said this morning that due to the late SEC filing, its trading symbol on the Nasdaq Stock Market changed to PPROE.