NEW YORK—In an April 28 story on Diebold Inc., The Associated Press erroneously reported that Wednesday will be the first time since April last year that the company reports financial results.
Diebold, which will be issuing revenue estimates for the first quarter Wednesday, issued a revenue estimate for 2007 and a revenue forecast for 2008 in February.
The story also erroneously reported the Diebold shareholders rejected a takeover bid by United Technologies Corp. Rather, Diebold's management rejected the bid.
A corrected version of the story appears below:
NEW YORK (AP) -- Diebold Inc. releases preliminary first-quarter revenue estimates on Wednesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
OVERVIEW: On Wednesday, the maker of ATMs, business security systems and voting machines is offering a preliminary estimate of revenue for the quarter ended March 31. Diebold has not released complete financial results since April last year as regulators continue to review the way the North Canton, Ohio, company reports revenue.
Since the summer of 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been probing Diebold's "bill-and-hold" accounting. The practice, which the company has stopped using, refers to booking sales once a contract is signed but before the product is delivered.
Diebold said it hopes to have its accounting issues settled early in the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, investors will be awaiting the resolution of an unsolicited takeover bid by United Technologies Corp. In March, the conglomerate offered $40 per share, or about $2.6 billion, but Diebold's management quickly rejected the offer, saying it did not reflect the anticipated market for ATMs in the U.S.
In February, Diebold said it planned to cut about 5 percent of its work force, or roughly 800 employees, in locations in North America, Western Europe and Brazil. The company said deteriorating credit markets within the U.S. banking industry may mean fewer ATMs are needed.
BY THE NUMBERS: In February, the company projected its 2008 revenue would grow between 6 percent and 8 percent. Diebold also issued a 2007 revenue estimate of $3 billion. The last time it reported quarterly earnings was April 25 last year, when it said it lost $5.9 million in the first quarter due largely to charges for a plant closing in France.
ANALYST TAKE: In a note to investors in early April, Robert W. Baird analyst Reik W. Read said he expected United to raise its offer for Diebold after the company files its financial reports.
Read said Diebold is worth at least $45 per share, and said weakening credit markets do not seem to be affecting spending on ATMs. Shares closed at $38.62 on Monday.
WHATS AHEAD: Investors have been largely in the dark about Diebold's performance over the past year and will be anticipating the release of its outstanding earnings reports. The company said it hopes to begin releasing those reports after the end of the second quarter.
The performance of its much-criticized voting-machines subsidiary, Premier Election Solutions, is also likely to receive scrutiny as many states have said they are reverting to paper ballots.
STOCK PERFORMANCE: Shares of Diebold are up 30 percent in the last quarter and have lost 21 percent in the last 52 weeks.
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