Arden Hills, Minn.-Land O’Lakes Inc. has corrected its recent net earnings for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2008, from $59.9 million to $47.9 million, and nine-month earnings from $224 million to $212 million (GM Nov. 17, p. 12). LOL said the decrease resulted primarily from inventory costing procedures at its agronomy segment that were not properly completed at the time of the earnings release. Specifically, cost of goods sold in the agronomy segment was understated by $10.1 million as a result of errors in inventory costing. Based on this news, management and LOL’s audit committee have identified “material weakness” in internal controls. Similar weakness was found relating to financial records of MoArk, a wholly-owned LOL egg company.
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