Mirant shares fell another 14% Wednesday morning a day after the company said it would delay the release of its quarterly and year-end earnings because of an ongoing audit (see Power Market Today, Feb. 26). Mirant shares were down 23 cents to $1.39 at 2 p.m.

Investors apparently are anticipating that the audit will result in additional earnings restatements for 2000 and 2001. Mirant officials warned in December that was a possibility.

The company reported last summer that it had identified several accounting errors related to its risk management and marketing operations. The errors resulted in numerous restatements with net $51 million income reduction for 2001. The company also said it planned to take a closer look at its accounting over the past few years and would issue a final report by the end of this month.

The independent review of its books so far not uncovered any fraudulent activities were committed by the Atlanta-based company. Nevertheless, Mirant did reveal last fall that the Department of Justice was looking into its energy trading practices and accounting matters.

Company officials planned to release earnings later this week but changed their plans on Tuesday and did not give a new date. “Our target was to substantially complete our 2002 year-end audit for a call this week,” said CEO Marce Fuller. “However, with the audit and reaudit processes still under way, we are not at a point where we have finalized that information.”

Mirant also said Tuesday it was increasing the independence of its board and planned to made some additional executive changes. The company announced the election of Robert McCullough to its board as an independent director. It also appointed Daniel Streek as vice president and controller and named Cameron Bready as global chief risk officer. Streek and Bready also were elected officers of the company.

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