LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Pro Forma Stance Backed

Recently you expressed your view on pro forma statements ("Let's Be Balanced With Pro Forma Earnings," From the President, June 2001). My view is that creative accounting probably would lead to a wrong allocation of resources, since it implies better firm performance, which may be a distortion of the true potential.

If the outlook is more optimistic, the P/E ratio is excessive, which means that too many financial resources are put into the stock market. The result does not reflect the true performance of the listed company and the stock market itself.

Creative accounting is destructive, and...