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How Macy's makes sure their balloons fly high on Thanksgiving
Almost nothing in the parade’s nearly 100-year history has stopped the balloons from being brought to life, save for one exception.
Macy's announced weaker-than-expected sales for the third quarter, saying it’s delaying the release of its full quarterly results after it discovered an employee intentionally hid up to $154 million of expenses over several years.
The report was expected to come out Tuesday.
The retailer said Monday that it identified an issue related to delivery expenses in one of its accrual accounts earlier this month.
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An independent investigation and forensic analysis found that a single employee with responsibility for small package delivery expense accounting intentionally made erroneous accounting accrual entries to hide roughly $132 million to $154 million of expenses from the fourth quarter of 2021 through the fiscal quarter ended November 2.
Macy's logo is seen on a store in Manhattan, New York, United States of America, on July 5th, 2024. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The company recognized about $4.36 billion of delivery expenses during the same time period.
Macy's said that there's no indication that the erroneous accounting accrual entries had any impact on its cash management activities or vendor payments.
The company added that the person behind the conduct is no longer an employee and that the investigation didn't identify involvement by any other worker.
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Macy's said it is delaying reporting its third-quarter earnings results to complete an independent investigation.
It anticipates reporting its full third-quarter financial results by Dec. 11.
"At Macy’s Inc., we promote a culture of ethical conduct," Chairman and CEO Tony Spring said in a statement. "While we work diligently to complete the investigation as soon as practicable and ensure this matter is handled appropriately, our colleagues across the company are focused on serving our customers and executing our strategy for a successful holiday season."
The company did provide some preliminary results for its third quarter, including that net sales fell 2.4% to $4.74 billion, slightly above the average analyst estimate of $4.72 billion.