AKRON Goodyear launches probe of its practices in Europe

Goodyear will report details on accounting woes next year.
AKRON (AP) -- Goodyear Tire & amp; Rubber Co. is probing possible improper accounting in its European operations, the second time since October the world's largest tire maker has raised faulty accounting issues.
The company will delay until next year an amended financial report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
There has been no determination whether the accounting for its business in Europe will have a material impact on earnings, Goodyear said Wednesday in a statement.
Goodyear shares closed Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange down 4 cents to $7.36. In after-hours trading, Goodyear shares dropped $1.20, or 16.3 percent, to $6.16.
In October, Goodyear said accounting system errors forced it to lower net income since 1998 by as much as $100 million. The company said then that an accounting system implemented in 1999 caused the mistakes.
The issue forced Goodyear to delay the release of its quarterly earnings report.
Plan for changes
Akron-based Goodyear has crafted a turnaround plan that includes possibly selling some of its nontire businesses and cutting $1.15 billion in wage and benefits costs over the next three years.
A new three-year contract with the United Steelworkers of America gives the company the option to cut jobs if production and cost-cutting goals aren't met.
But the delay in filing its amended 10-K filing to the SEC could hurt the company's ability to satisfy an obligation to the union to raise $325 million in debt and equity financing by the end of this year.
Goodyear spokesman Keith Price said the contract does not specify how the money would be used. Price said Goodyear's expectation is that the funds would reduce debt and go toward general corporate purposes.