Adelphia to Delay 10-K Filing Again

Adelphia Communications Corp. said it will further delay filing its annual 10-K financial report to continue a review of its accounting for borrowing by company subsidiaries and firms owned by relatives of the founder.

Adelphia, the country’s sixth-largest cable operator, said it will reevaluate its March estimate of a 12% increase in pro forma revenue and a 13% increase in pro forma earnings for 2002. But the company didn’t expect to change fourth-quarter and full-year 2001 results already reported.

After the disclosure in its fourth-quarter earnings report March 27 that it had $2.3 billion in off-the-books debt, Adelphia obtained a 15-day extension of the April 1 deadline for filing the comprehensive 10-K financial report. The company later confirmed that the Securities and Exchange Commission had opened an informal investigation of its borrowing agreements. Adelphia officials didn’t return calls for comment.

Adelphia had revealed that co-borrowing by the family of its founder, Chief Executive John J. Rigas, in conjunction with family-controlled partnerships, could leave the company liable should the partnerships be unable to meet the debt obligations.