Boeing chief defends accounting practices

Boeing Co.’s chief executive on Wednesday defended the company’s accounting practices, which reportedly are under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

At an investor event, CEO Dennis Muilenberg said the Chicago company is “very confident in the accounting” and expects to meet the predicted profitability of the Dreamliner aircraft, The Wall Street Journal reported.

He neither confirmed nor denied the existence of any probe, but sought to calm investor worries that slammed shares last week, the Journal reported.

Shares of the Boeing Co. plummeted Feb. 11 after Bloomberg reported the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating how the company spreads out the upfront costs of making the 787 Dreamliner and 747 over several years, as well as whether its sales forecasts were too optimistic.

The investigation was prompted by a whistleblower complaint, Bloomberg reported.