NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Bristol-Myers Squibb said it may be forced to restate financial results pending the outcome of a federal inquiry into why the company encouraged wholesalers to buy too many drugs in recent years.

Bristol-Myers disclosed in its quarterly report Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a preliminary inquiry into its wholesaler inventory situation, and that the probe could become a more formal investigation.

"We are cooperating with the SEC. We are not able to predict the outcome of this matter, which, by its nature, and particularly in the current environment, is uncertain," Bristol-Myers said in its 10-Q report on file with the SEC. "...We believe our accounting treatment for the wholesaler inventory buildup was appropriate and, accordingly, believe that this outcome is unlikely.

Also included in the company's filing were sworn statements from Chairman and CEO Peter Dolan and interim Chief Financial Officer Harrison Baines Jr. in keeping with the SEC's new rules requiring company certification of financial results.

Bristol-Myers spokeswoman Bonnie Jacobs declined to say whether the new certification requirement led to the disclosures, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

"This is a filing where broad disclosure is encouraged and where many possible contingencies are set forth," Jacobs told the paper.

In April, Bristol-Myers said it had used sales incentives to encourage wholesalers to buy more drugs than necessary to meet patients' needs. The company has been forced to restate the scope of the problem three times, the Journal reported, and recently estimated the excessive buying, which mostly took place in 2000-2001, amounted to about $1.5 billion.

Sales of three of the company's top-selling drugs have been hurt by the introduction of cheap generic competitors, and the company's licensing agreements, including one with the now-indicted former CEO of ImClone Systems Inc., have been fraught with missteps, the Journal reported.

Profit this year reportedly could be half of last year's and Dolan is under pressure to reverse the trend.

Bristol-Myers (BMY: Research, Estimates) shares added 81 cents to $23.61 Wednesday.