WellCare shares fall after Q2 filing delay

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Shares of WellCare Health Plans Inc (WCG.N) fell as much as 11 percent on Wednesday, a day after the company said it would delay filing results for the quarter ended June, as it sorts out details related to a government probe and earnings restatement.

"The company did not provide the magnitude of restatements or when it plans to file. The company also did not give an update on the investigation," Wachovia analyst Matthew Perry said in a research note.

WellCare, a provider of health-care services under government programs, said in July that it would restate earnings lower from 2004 through the first half of 2007.

It had cited accounting errors for certain Medicaid contracts with the states of Florida and Illinois for the restatement.

The company, which has been the target of a federal and state investigation, formed a special committee of its directors in November last year to independently examine issues raised by the probes and any potential accounting irregularities.

WellCare said in a filing with U.S. regulators on Tuesday that the committee's review is ongoing.

"We do not believe that the work currently being performed by the special committee will require any material adjustments to our previously issued financial statements beyond those previously disclosed," it added.

Shares of the Tampa, Florida-based company were down $3.60 at $38.60 in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a low of $37.33 earlier in the session.

(Reporting by Anuradha Ramanathan in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)