Geely-backed Polestar pushes back results for second time in a year, as the Swedish carmaker battles accounting errors
Polestar Automotive Holding UK Plc postponed its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report scheduled for Tuesday after the struggling electric-vehicle maker identified accounting errors made in previous years.
The misstatements concern filings for 2021 and 2022, the Swedish-origin manufacturer said in a regulatory filing. They’re expected to positively impact the 2021 net loss by less than 5%, and negatively impact its net loss by less than 5% for 2022.
“Additional time is needed for the company to close its books and records, complete its financial statement preparation and finalize its review process” for the past year, the company said.
The accounting snarls add to Polestar’s issues with cash burn and sluggish auto sales. Since listing in the US in 2022, the EV maker has repeatedly tapped its largest owners — Chinese billionaire Li Shufu and Volvo Car AB — for funds.
Polestar’s shares have plunged more than 60% in the past year amid slowing EV growth and waning risk appetite for new businesses that have struggled scaling up output. Earlier this year, Volvo Car said it will stop funding Polestar and reduce its stake in the company to protect its balance sheet.
The EV maker is relying on new models such as the Polestar 4 coupe to bolster sales, and in February raised $950 million in debt to help finance its vehicle rollouts.
It reported muted deliveries for the first quarter, “making the already significant ramp-up required even steeper than initially expected,” Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska said in a note earlier this month.
Source link
