Elan stock spirals on release of annual report

Shares in Elan Corp., Ireland&#39;s largest pharmaceutical company, crashed Tuesday after issuing its long-awaited 2001 annual report, using U.S. accounting methods.<br> <br> Elan&#39;s stock has spriraled down more than 90 percent from 52-week highs and traded as low as 1.65 Tuesday. Elan has been affected by global controversy over corporate accounting that has surrounded the likes of Enron, WorldCom and Xerox. <br> <br> In a statement accompanying the firm&#39;s 2001 annual report for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, company officials stated Elan faced &#34;the most challenging time it its corporate history&#34;. <br> <br> The report showed that Elan will write down roughly one fourth of its $2.1 billion in investment assets in the second quarter. <br> <br>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/7/192926