By Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell

HELSINKI, March 7 (Reuters) – Finnish engineering firm Wartsila stated staff at one among its companies in Italy had manipulated a small variety of gas consumption assessments for its ship engines earlier than they had been delivered to prospects.

“This is a hit to our brand and reputation,” Chief Executive Jaakko Eskola instructed a convention name, apologising for the actions.

A ‘couple of hundreds’ of engines had been affected by manipulated assessments over a number of years on the Wartsila Delivery Centre Trieste in northeast Italy, he added, enjoying down the potential monetary impression.

Wartsila’s assertion is the newest proof of elevated scrutiny of practices within the transport sector after carmaker Volkswagen admitted to manipulating emission assessments for diesel autos final yr.

It additionally comes after fellow Finnish firm Nokian Tyres final month admitted it had equipped particular top quality tyres for assessments by motoring journalists, resulting in stronger take a look at scores that helped to garner good publicity.

Shares in Wartsila fell 1.8 p.c by 1130 GMT after the corporate stated its inside audit revealed that 2 p.c of its ship engine deliveries might have been affected by the manipulations, and the deviations within the readings had been on common 1 p.c of gas consumption.

The firm declined to specify the timeframe, or touch upon potential disciplinary motion regarding the wrongdoing.

The firm estimated that the client impression of the deviations could be marginal. Juha Kinnunen, analyst at Inderes Equity Research, nonetheless stated that some prospects had been more likely to really feel aggrieved.

“For shipping customers fuel costs are a major operating expense, and a critical element in all engines deals,” he stated, including nonetheless that he believed the problem mustn’t have a major impression on Wartsila.

Wartsila, which additionally makes energy crops and has a big service enterprise, stated it had discovered no deviations in its different operations. Last yr, ship engine gross sales represented 12 p.c of the corporate’s complete income. (Editing by Keith Weir)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.