US book retailer Barnes & Noble Inc. recently disclosed that securities regulators are investigating its accounting. According to the Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble said it was notified by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on October 16 that the commission had started an investigation into the company's restatement of earnings.
Barnes & Noble in a filing restated its previous financial statements for the years ended April 28, 2012 and April 30, 2011. The restatement reduced the company's reported losses for the two years but didn't change its revenue, the report said.
WSJ said Barnes and Noble restated its loss for fiscal year 2012 to USD64.8 million from the previously reported loss of USD68.9 million. Fiscal 2011 loss was also restated to USD68.8 million from USD73.9 million.
The SEC is also looking into a former employee's allegations. Barnes & Noble was claimed to have improperly allocated certain information technology expenses between its Nook devices and ebooks business and its consumer bookstore group in its earnings report, the report said.
Barnes & Nobles said it is cooperating with the SEC investigation but declined further comment, WSJ reported.
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