CORRECT: UPDATE: VeriFone Swings To Black In 3Q, Settles SEC Case

("=UPDATE: VeriFone Swings To Black In 3Q, Settles SEC Case," at 5:01 p.m. EDT, misstated who paid a $25,000 settlement in the 2nd paragraph. The correct version follows:)

 
   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 
 

VeriFone Holdings Inc. (PAY) swung to fiscal third-quarter profit as restructuring costs pushed the company into the red last year, but the company suffered a blow Tuesday when the Securities and Exchange Commission accused it of overstated earnings by more than $37 million in 2007.

The company settled the suit, which also named former supply-chain controller Paul Periolat, without admitting or denying the allegations. VeriFone consented to a permanent injunction against violating securities laws, while Periolat will pay a $25,000 civil penalty and agreed to a similar injunction.

In after-hours trading, VeriFone's shares were up 6.5% at $11.84 as the company signaled its outlook is brightening as the latest results topped expectations. The stock has lost half its value since October but has more than doubled since March.

The SEC alleged the worker falsified books, at the insistence of senior management, to compensate for an unexpected decline in gross margins. When the misrepresentations came to light in 2007, the company's stock price fell almost half, wiping out $1.8 billion of market capitalization in one day.

"Through poor oversight and controls, VeriFone senior management allowed an employee to make millions of dollars of unsubstantiated accounting adjustments that enabled the company to meet its guidance to Wall Street," said Marc J. Fagel, director of the SEC's San Francisco regional office.

As for Verifone's current operations, "We believe that our business has begun to recover and we are seeing mildly improving market conditions in both our domestic and international markets," Chief Executive Douglas G. Bergeron said, citing a 53% rise in adjusted earnings from the prior quarter.

For the year, VeriFone now expects adjusted earnings of 83 cents to 85 cents a share on revenue of $835 million to $842 million. The company had been tamping down on expectations for the period, in June projecting earnings of 65 cents to 70 cents a share on revenue of $810 million to $830 million.

Verifone also forecast fourth-quarter earnings of 23 cents to 25 cents on revenue of $208 million to $215 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, projected 19 cents and $203 million, respectively.

Faced with a weak economy and rising competition, the maker of credit-card processing machines has been cutting costs because of weak economic conditions, especially in North America.

For the quarter ended July 31, VeriFone reported a profit of $21.9 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $7.2 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. The prior year included a net 41 cents of charges.

Revenue dropped 18% to $211.2 million, falling 9% in the more profitable North American region and 17% in Europe. The smaller Latin America region posted the biggest decline, at 49%, while Asia bucked trends with a 24% increase.

In June, VeriFone expected adjusted earnings of 15 cents to 18 cents a share on revenue of $202 million.

Gross margin narrowed to 34.1% from 34.2%.

-By Jay Miller, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2355; [e-mail]