Gene therapy maker bluebird to restate financials after accounting errors
March 26 (Reuters) – Gene therapy maker bluebird bio (BLUE.O) said on Tuesday it plans to restate its financial statements for 2022 and the first three quarters of last year due to accounting errors related to some contract manufacturers.
The company said it has identified “material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting”, which resulted in ineffective disclosure of controls and procedures.
It now expects to record an increase in lease assets and liabilities, and non-cash interest expense during the periods due to the errors, but did not provide details on the contracts.
It said there was an estimated understatement of lease assets and lease liabilities between $100 million and $200 million in 2022, and between $30 million and $125 million in each of the first three quarters of 2022 and 2023.
Shares of bluebird were down 12.5% at $1.19 in premarket trading.
The company has contract manufacturing agreements with Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO.N) and Lonza (LONN.S), among others, according to its annual report released last year.
Reuters
