EV maker Polestar to delay fourth-quarter results for a second time

(Reuters) - Swedish electric-vehicle maker Polestar Automotive will delay the publication of its fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 financial results for a second time, a spokesperson for the company said on Tuesday.

Polestar did not provide a date for the release but said it still intends to publish first-quarter financial results on May 23.

The delay is partly because the company needs more time to finalize its financial statements over accounting misstatements in 2021 and 2022 that will be rectified in the 2023 report.

As a result of the restatements, the company expects its net loss to decrease by less than 5% for 2021 and increase by less than 5% for 2022.

Polestar also requires more time to complete work related to the internal control of its financial reporting as per the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the spokesperson said.

Sarbanes-Oxley is a law which created enhanced accounting standards for publicly traded U.S. companies after a series of accounting scandals.

Polestar was initially set to report its fourth-quarter results on Feb. 29, before postponing it to April 30.

The company reported a 40% drop in first-quarter deliveries earlier this month as slowing demand due to uncertain economic conditions pinched consumer budgets and prompted them to cut back on big-ticket purchases.

(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru and Marie Mannes in Stockholm; Editing by Devika Syamnath)