UTi Worldwide cites ‘back office’ impact of Nasdaq error

UTi Worldwide cites ‘back office’ impact of Nasdaq error    UTi Worldwide Inc., a global logistics company based in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, has issued a statement saying that a data entry error made by the Nasdaq stock exchange on Nov. 22, “has unfortunately set numerous back office actions into motion for our shareholders and investors that have yet to be completely unwound.”
   UTi did not declare a cash dividend on that date as reported by Nasdaq, UTi asserted. “Historically, the company’s board of directors considers a possible declaration of an annual cash dividend each April, with the most recent such dividend having been declared on April 7, 2005, with a payment date of May 20,” UTi said.
   “On Nov. 22, Nasdaq apparently uploaded a dividend data file that contained a wrong Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures or CUSIP number. The mistake resulted in an erroneous posting by Nasdaq to a private network incorrectly alerting brokers that UTi would pay a cash dividend in December 2005. This dividend was never declared by UTi,” the company explained.
   On Dec. 9, Nasdaq “posted a note to the same network, deleting the dividend and noting that the prior entry had been made in error,” UTi said.
   “Over the past several weeks, we have been aware of dividend credits being incorrectly posted to some investors’ accounts without being funded, checks being mistakenly sent to some shareholders, and miscommunications with money managers who wondered if there were some financial issues with UTi because they had been mistakenly told by their back office administrators that UTi had declared and then rescinded a dividend,” UTi said.
   “We now believe it necessary to advise our shareholders and other interested parties of the ongoing consequences resulting from Nasdaq’s erroneous posting,” the company said.