Amerco Says It Is Unaware of SEC Probe

Amerco, parent of U-Haul International Inc., said it was unaware of any investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the firing of auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and other issues.

The Financial Times reported that the SEC contacted Amerco about last month’s dismissal of its auditor of 24 years.

Regulators are looking into financial control issues at the company, the paper said, citing unidentified people close to the probe.

Representatives for the SEC and PricewaterhouseCoopers declined to comment.

Amerco fired PricewaterhouseCoopers on July 17, the day that it restated results for fiscal 2000 and 2001. Pricewaterhouse questioned access to accounts and inventory valuation and recommended “the internal control structure and monitoring process should be strengthened to help detect misstated account balances on a timely basis,” Amerco said in a July 23 regulatory filing.

Shares of Reno-based Amerco fell as low as $10.30 in after-hours trading. They had closed up 85 cents at $11.60 on Nasdaq.