You know a destructive force has gone mainstream when it starts to appear as a risk factor in company financial reports, and that is what occurred yesterday with the swine flu.
CFO.com reports that the most prominent company to refer to swine flu was Burger King, in its third quarter fiscal 2009 results. Burger King CEO John Chidsey stated that “due to ongoing market challenges and unknown potential effects of the Swine Flu situation, we are taking a more conservative outlook to our fourth quarter fiscal year 2009 earnings estimate.” Burger King said that its earnings forecast “is subject to change based on the impact of the evolving Swine Flu situation on the company’s worldwide business,” and added “public health issues such as swine flu outbreak” to its safe harbor statement.
Several Mexican airlines also added references to the Swine Flu situation to their public filings, CFO.com reports.
Photo: AP
