US aerostructures firm Spirit AeroSystems is having to deal with further pressure after it replaced its chief financial officer and a vice-president over an accounting mishap.
Chief financial officer Jose Garcia and vice-president John Gilson, principal accounting officer, have resigned in the wake of the findings, which followed a review of accounting compliance.
Spirit had commenced the review last month after “receiving information through its established compliance processes”.
“As a result of the review, which is ongoing, Spirit determined that it did not comply with its established accounting processes related to certain potential contingent liabilities,” it says.
These liabilities were received by the company after the end of its 2019 third quarter.
While it believes the situation will not require a restatement of its financial results for the third quarter, or “materially impact” its full-year accounts, the company says it has yet to reach final conclusions.
Spirit has already been burdened by grounding of the Boeing 737 Max, for which it supplies fuselages, and has embarked on a production halt and job cuts while the situation persists.
Garcia and Gibson have resigned from their posts and “all other employment or board positions” within the company and its subsidiaries, but arrangements relating to their departure “have not been finalised”, Spirit told the Securities Exchange Commission.
The company has appointed a new chief financial officer, Mark Suchinski, as well as a new principal accounting officer, Damon Ward, after their predecessors stepped down.
Spirit says it “anticipates fully co-operating” with any inquiries that the SEC might have, and is taking steps to “strengthen procedures” to ensure contingent liabilities are “processed correctly in the future”.
