Clariant wraps up whistleblower probe, swaps out CFO

ZURICH (Reuters) - Clariant has concluded its probe of whistleblowers' allegations that some staff manipulated accounts in 2020 and 2021 to help meet financial targets, finding no impact on

sales and cash previously reported, it said https://www.clariant.com/en/Corporate/News/2022/04/Clariant-concludes-investigation-with-preliminary-continuing-operations-EBITDA-margin-of-155--for-20 on Wednesday.

Restated and preliminary 2020 financial statements implied a continuing operations EBITDA margin of 15.5 % versus the 15.0% previously reported, while its preliminary 2021 EBITDA margin of 16.2% was in line with previous guidance, it said.

The Swiss speciality chemicals group in February delayed the release of its 2021 results as investigators looked into the allegations.

It expects to publish audited 2021 results including a restated 2020 by May 30.

"With the investigation completed, Clariant's Chief Financial Officer Stephan Lynen has decided to step down by 1 July 2022 to allow for a fresh start," it said.

His successor will be Bill Collins, who will join Clariant on July 1 from Engie, where he was most recently head of North America and chief financial officer.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Jason Neely)