Advanced Marketing Services, the parent company of Publisher's Group West, has admitted providing clients with inaccurate figures concerning the circulation of its magazines and catalogs during a four-year period from 1999-2003.  The company, which distributes books to warehouse clubs, will file amended earnings reports with the SEC, and the earnings for the four-year period, which totaled 85 million, will decline by between $3 and $9 million. 

The San Diego-based company's action, which was accompanied by the resignations of several individuals involved in the misstatements, will not end investigations into its practices by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California (see 'Book Distributor Raided By Feds'). However, unless the investigations uncover further violations, AMS should be able to weather the blow.

In a move that AMS indicated was unrelated to its legal problems, the company also announced that it was closing the Reno, Nevada warehouse that housed PGW's fulfillment, and moving that operation to a more centrally located warehouse facility in Indianapolis, Indiana.  This move, which is to be completed by June of this year, is an important one for both bookstores and direct market retailers, since PGW represents Viz, a key manga publisher with numerous hot titles such as Naruto, Inu Yasha, One Piece, etc.. Retailers (and distributors) have reported to ICv2 that better selling Viz titles are often difficult to keep in stock because of lengthy reorder times.  A more centrally located distribution facility may cut reorder times for retailers in most parts of the country, though it may actually lengthen them for West Coast retailers.