The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday charged Newell Brands and Michael Polk, its former CEO and current CEO of Implus, with misleading investors over financial accounting practices.
In a settlement, Newell and Polk, without admitting or denying the SEC findings, agreed to pay civil penalties of $12.5 million and $110,000, respectively, the SEC said in a statement.
The SEC said Newell and Polk “took actions that increased the company’s publicly disclosed core sales growth in ways that were out of step with Newell’s actual but undisclosed sales trends, allowing the company to announce “strong” or “solid” results in quarters it internally described as disappointing due to shortfalls in sales.”
The SEC order said that Newell pulled sales forward into earlier quarters without adequate disclosure and used accounting practices inconsistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
The cumulative effect of these actions created a misleading impression that Newell had achieved its core sales growth targets, deceiving investors and withholding crucial information necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the company’s actual sales trends.
Polk was CEO of Newell from 2011 to 2019.
Newell’s outdoor lifestyle brands include Coleman, Marmot, Ex Officio, Stearns, Bubba, and Contigo. Its other major brands include Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Rubbermaid Commercial Products, Yankee Candle, Paper Mate, FoodSaver, Dymo, EXPO, Elmer’s, Oster, NUK, Spontex, and Campingaz.
Polk, in 2020, became CEO of Implus and an advisor to Berkshire Partners, the parent of Implus.
Headquartered in Durham, NC, Implus’ family of brands includes Sof Sole, Balega, Yaktrax, Apara, Airplus, Sof Comfort, Forcefield, Little Hotties, Perfect Fitness, RockTape, Sport-Brella DryGuy, TriggerPoint, Harbinger, FuelBelt, Spenco, Stabil, and SKLZ.
Photos courtesy Newell Brands, Linkedin
