It’s been a rocky month for Fisker Inc., which saw its chief accounting officer resign after only eight days on the job, is behind on filing its third quarter report and is seeing its stock plummet.
Florus Beuting left the Manhattan Beach electric car manufacturer effective Nov. 14 after being hired to fill the position on Nov. 6. There was no explanation given for Beuting’s departure.
Fisker was also not in compliance with New York Stock Exchange rules over filing its report for the third quarter, which was due Nov. 13. The company has six months from Nov. 14 to file form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
If it doesn’t file within that time period, the stock exchange has the option to grant a six-month extension to gain compliance.
The notice from the stock exchange also notes that it may nevertheless commence delisting proceedings at any time if it deems that the circumstances warrant, according to a release from Fisker. On Nov. 13, Fisker filed a notice with the SEC that it would be late in filing its third quarter financials.
“Although the company has dedicated significant resources to the completion of finalizing its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures for inclusion in the Form 10-Q, the company was unable to file the Form 10-Q prior to Nov. 14,” the company said.
Additional time is needed by the company to complete its preparation of the financial statements included in the Form 10-Q, Fisker said, adding, “The company is working diligently to ensure appropriate disclosures are made in the Form 10-Q and expects to file (it) within the next few days.”
The additional time needed to prepare the 10-Q was related to the hiring of Beuting as chief accounting officer.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Beuting, who was previously chief accountant at PLBY Group, the parent of the Playboy brand, was hired by Fisker just before the company unexpectedly pushed back its quarterly earnings release amid the change in accounting executives.
John Finnucan, who had been Fisker’s chief accounting officer since around the time the company went public in late 2020, left on Oct. 27 to join a private company focused on refueling solutions. At the time of Finnucan’s departure, Fisker said his exit wasn’t related to company operations or accounting practices, the Journal reported.
There was another reason behind the late filing:
“In the course of completing the preparation of the report, the company determined that it has material weaknesses in the company’s internal control over financial reporting. These material weaknesses will be discussed in the report,” Fisker said in an SEC filing from Nov. 13.
Still on Nov. 13 the company put out a press release with its third quarter financials but has not filed a report with the SEC.
For the quarter ending Sept. 30, Fisker reported a net loss of $91 million (-27 cents a share), compared with a net loss of -$149 million (-49 cents) a year earlier.
As recently as Oct. 3, Fisker’s stock closed at $6.78 before falling. One of the biggest decreases happened after Fisker announced its third quarter earnings delay. The stock price closed at $4.11 on Nov. 13 and dropped nearly 19% in value to close at $3.34 the following day. It closed at $2.12 on Nov. 22.
