VeriFone needs more time for annual report

VeriFone Holdings Inc., which makes checkout-line payment terminals and software, said Tuesday that it needs two more weeks to prepare its annual report for the Securities and Exchange Commission because the company is still calculating the charge it needs to take for a falloff in its business.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company announced earlier this month that it would need to write down the value of its goodwill by $285.7 million because sales are hurting worse than expected in the global economic slump. Goodwill accounts for things like a company's reputation and the value of its brand. Businesses have been pinched because of the credit crunch, and many have put off expensive technological upgrades, including overhauling their payment systems.

The value of VeriFone's charge was preliminary, and the company says it needs the 15-day filing extension to finish its accounting review and come up with a final amount for the charge. VeriFone expects to complete the review by the new Jan. 14 deadline.

VeriFone estimates its net loss for its 2008 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 31, will be $5 per share, compared with a 41-cent-per-share loss in 2007. Sales in 2008 were $921.9 million, a 2 percent increase from a year earlier.