VW Delays Financial Report, Annual Meeting

Volkswagen AG says continuing uncertainties about the impact of its diesel emission cheating scandal have prompted the company to delay reporting its 2015 financial results. VW also is pushing back its annual meeting.

VW had planned to announce last year’s financials on March 10 and hold its shareholder meeting on April 21. New dates for the two events haven’t been finalized.

Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which owns a controlling stake in VW, says it is postponing it full-year financial report and annual meeting for the same reason. Porsche SE previously posted a 50% drop in profits through the first nine months of 2015, which it blamed on the fiasco.

VW has set aside €6.7 billion ($7.5 billion) to cover the cost of repairing 11 million of its diesel-powered vehicles that were rigged to evade emission standards. But the company has cautioned the fund won’t cover regulatory fines, legal settlements and possible vehicle buy-backs.

The company’s efforts to calculate the full impact of the crisis have been stalled by an inability to reach agreement with U.S. regulatory agencies about fixing 580,000 diesels in the American market. VW also faces numerous consumer lawsuits there, including civil charges from the U.S. Dept. of Justice that in theory could lead to penalties as great at $90 billion.

Bloomberg News notes that without a more precise cost estimate, VW’s auditors can’t sign off on the company’s full-year financials without inserting caveats. Doing so would worry investors and damage the company’s standing with lenders and credit rating agencies.