Honeywell International Inc. said on Friday the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had opened an investigation into its accounting for asbestos-related liabilities.
The industrial conglomerate’s revised estimate for asbestos-related liabilities was $2.61 billion as of end-2017, some $1.09 billion higher than a prior estimate, a showed.
The liabilities are related to Bendix Friction Materials, a business previously owned by Honeywell and sold in 2014, which made automotive brake linings containing asbestos.
Thousands of individuals have alleged personal injury from exposure to asbestos from the brakes.
The company has also revised its 2017 reported earnings per share lower by 14 cents to $2.00.
Earlier on Friday, Honeywell reported quarterly results and said trade tariffs would squeeze profit margins and potentially cost it “hundreds of millions” of dollars in 2019.
(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
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