Drugmakerfaces SEC probe

Thursday, July 11, 2002 | 9:56 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether discounted sales to wholesalers last year misled investors about the company's revenue growth.

The world's fifth-biggest drugmaker cut profit forecasts in April after disclosing that revenue last year was inflated by sales incentives, leaving wholesalers with excess inventories that analysts estimated at as much as $1.8 billion. Chief Financial Officer Frederick Schiff resigned the same month.

The SEC is stepping up scrutiny of companies following the collapse of energy trader Enron Corp.

archive