3Com Corp has restated its financial results for fiscal 1997, due to a change in accounting concerning its merger with US Robotics Inc. The changes, made in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s review of 3Com’s Form 10-Q, involved the definition of the combination period for the two companies and the charge related to the merger. After the SEC review, 3Com added two additional months of USR’s results to the combined companies’ 1997 fiscal report. For the fiscal year ended May 31, 1997, 3Com revised its net income from $597.6m, or $1.69 per share, to $500.5m, or $1.41 per share. The restructuring charge from the merger itself, taken in the first quarter of 1998, has been reduced from $426m to $270m. As a result, for the first quarter of 1998 ended August 31 1997, the company’s net loss was revised from $146.8m, or $0.43 per share, to $51.2m, or $0.15. For the second quarter, earnings were revised down from $15m ($0.04), to $4m ($0.01). 3Com says the changes should have minimal impact on future operating earnings.
