Nortel Hits Delay With Financial Restatements

The company said it now plans to file financial statements for the year 2003 and the first and second quarters of 2004 by mid-November. As a result of the delay, Nortel won't be able to file third-quarter 2004 results by the required deadlines in November in compliance with certain U.S. and Canadian securities regulations, and also won't comply with obligations under debt indentures.

Nortel continues to work on the restatement of results for each quarter in 2003 and for the years 2002 and 2001. The company, which has been the target of regulatory and criminal probes, expects to announce preliminary results for the latest third quarter by the end of November and to file financial statements for that period in mid-December.

Shares of Nortel were down 2.7 percent, or 9 cents, at $3.30 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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