Going Concern Notes Keep Coming from Auditors (AIG, CTIC, COA, NYNY, TGIC)

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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burning-money-pic32We are still seeing many auditor notes containing a “going concern” doubt about companies and their ability to continue operations without added funding or business changes.  Last week,we outlined many household names that had received going concern notes.  Even American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) has a going concern note in the International Lease Finance Corporation unit’s annual report.   This week we have already seen another wave of these from Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC), Coachmen Industries Inc. (NYSE: COA), Empire Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: NYNY), Triad Guaranty Inc. (NASDAQ: TGIC).

American International Group’s  International Lease Finance Corp. unit leases aircraft and said its survival is in doubt as it needs to raise additional financing from its parent or from another lender.  It borrowed approximately $1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2008 from AIG Funding Inc. to repay its maturing commercial paper obligations and other general obligations as they came due.  It also drew down the maximum available on our revolving credit facilities of $6.5 billion.

Cell Therapeutics filed its annual report for 2008 and noted that its independent auditor’s report contains a “going concern” qualification.  The company has just approved an authorization to increase the number of shares so it can raise capital, and it has provided updates  for its Phase III data for Pixantrone for aggressive relapsed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Coachmen Industries  is a small cap company that manufactures recreational vehicles and system-built housing.  The management discussion and analysis noted that its annual report should be read assuming that it will continue as a going concern with recurring losses, minimal working capital, and inability to generate sufficient cash flow to meet obligations and sustain operations.

Empire Resorts said that its annual report contains a statement from its auditor, Friedman, with the dreaded going concern note.  This gambling and entertainment operator is down about 80% even after doubling off lows.

Triad Guaranty Inc. (Nasdaq: TGIC) announced this week that its audited financial statements in  the 2008 annual report included a “going concern” note in the unqualified audit opinion received from Ernst & Young.  Providing private mortgage insurance has only gotten worse.  Even the foreclosure moratorium hasn’t helped.

Again, these are not anywhere near all of the “Going Concern” notes that have been coming out.  These are just the ones from stocks which have been previously active.

Jon C. Ogg
March 25, 2009

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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