Lordstown Motors loss swells as delivery delays, production costs weigh

(Reuters) – Lordstown Motors Corp on Monday posted a bigger quarterly loss, as the electric-vehicle (EV) maker struggled with production costs and missed the delivery target for its Endurance pickup truck, dragging its shares by about 5%.

EV companies that went public in the past few years have been battling surging costs and challenges in securing supply of parts to make enough vehicles to meet the sector’s burgeoning demand.

At the start of commercial production in September, the company had set a target to deliver 50 vehicles in 2022 and more in 2023 out of the planned first batch of 500 units.

However, it suspended production last month due to performance and quality issues with some components and reported sales of only six vehicles. The supply chain constraints, especially in motor components, are also expected to weigh on production in the current quarter.

On Monday, Lordstown posted sales of three vehicles and said it incurred $30 million in cost of sales. But, it did not provide a production or delivery forecast for the electric pickup truck during a conference call with analysts.

“We will continue to execute a capital constrained business plan,” CFO Adam Kroll said, adding that Lordstown will need to raise “significantly more” capital to cover costs related to developing its new vehicle.

Net loss for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $102.3 million, compared with $81.2 million a year earlier. The results included an impairment charge of $36.5 million that the firm said was driven mainly by a decrease in its stock price.

The company’s cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $221.7 million and it expects to have between $150 million and $170 million in cash and short-term investments at the end of the first quarter.

Lordstown also reiterated doubt in its ability to continue as a going concern.

The firm’s revenue of $194,000, widely missed estimates of $1.29 million, while its adjusted loss was larger than expected.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)