Indus to Pay $4 Million to End Suits

Indus International Inc. agreed to pay $4.3 million to settle securities-fraud lawsuits filed by investors after the management-software developer restated earnings earlier this year.

San Francisco-based Indus, which provides software and services to users in more than 40 countries, agreed to hand over $4.3 million in insurance coverage to resolve six lawsuits accusing the company of misleading shareholders, officials said in a release.

Indus executives agreed in January to restate the company’s third-quarter earnings for 1999 after auditors raised questions about the company’s accounting practices. Indus reduced third- quarter results by $5 million to $49.9 million and chopped net income figures by 89 percent, investors’ lawyers argued in court papers.

“The company is pleased to have resolved this matter, as the settlement will remove the uncertainty, expense and distraction of litigation,” Kent O. Hudson, Indus’ chief executive, said in a release.

Lawyers for investors said they believed the securities-fraud claims had merit but decided to settle in the best interests of shareholders. They had filed suit in federal court in San Francisco in January.