Sorgen um Buchhaltung bei Harley-Davidson

...belasten die Aktie
   
In den letzten Tagen, nachdem Enron aufgrund falscher Buchhaltung lange den Bankrott verschleiern konnte, sind die Anleger im Amerika sehr verunsichert. Nachrichten über ähnliche Buchhaltungsfehler bei anderen Unternehmen können die Aktie dieser Firma aufgrund der Verunsicherung unter Druck bringen.
Dies geschah heute mit der Aktie des Motorradherstellers Harley-Davidson. Sie beendete den Handel mit einem Minus von 6 Prozent bei 50,91 Dollar. Doch nicht nur die Sorge um die richtige Buchhaltung bedrückte die Anleger. Zusätzlich kamen auch Gerüchte auf, dass die Nachfrage nach den bekannten Motorrädern nachgelassen habe.

Das Unternehmen selbst äußerte sich heute nicht zu den Gerüchten. Von Analystenseite wurde allerdings bezweifelt, dass Harley bei der Verbuchung der Wertpapier-Gewinne unrechtmäßig handle.  

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Harley-Davidson Inc. fell as much as 6.9 percent on Tuesday as investors fretted over its financial disclosures and a possible slowdown in demand for its distinctive heavyweight motorcycles.

Wall Street is leery about accounting issues since energy giant Enron Corp.  collapsed amid allegations that it hid millions of dollars of losses in special partnerships.

Analysts said they believe Harley-Davidson's financing operations are above board, but investors are concerned about how the Milwaukee company records gains on sales of loans it bundles into derivative securities.

"Where they are getting penalized today is on the lack of more detailed disclosure as they don't break out the gain on sales of the securitizations of their loan pool," said Bear Stearns analyst Joseph Yurman. "In this era of heightened awareness, any part of a business that is somehow masked is drawn into question in general."

Yurman said he had encouraged Harley-Davidson to more fully disclose the intricacies of its financing segment, which helps customers finance motorcycle purchases.

"We do not believe Harley is hiding anything," he said.

Shares of Harley-Davidson were down $2.94, or 5.4 percent, at $51.09 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trade after falling as low as $50.30 earlier in the session.

Some analysts said recent reports may have spooked investors over Harley-Davidson's inventory and the demand for its heavyweight motorcycles.

Still, Lehman Bros. analyst Felicia Kantor said retailers are not worried.

"No one is wringing their hands over the fact that they have more bikes," said Lehman Bros. analyst Felicia Kantor. "We have done plenty of dealer checks, and we see pretty much the same thing we saw last year."