Swedish battery maker Northvolt will be able to pay its taxes that fall due on Oct. 14, it told Reuters on Thursday, answering speculation as to whether the struggling company would be able to do so.
Cash-strapped Northvolt announced in September that it would slim down and cut jobs, sparking fears that Europe’s best shot at a homegrown electric-vehicle battery champion may stall due to production problems, sluggish demand and competition from China.
While the company has rapidly expanded over the past few years, one of Europe’s best-funded startups with more than $10 billion in funding started showing signs of deep trouble when German carmaker BMW cancelled a $2 billion order in June
There had been wide speculation in media that crunch time for the company could arrive when it faced its next tax payment.
“On the question of whether we will pay our taxes when they fall due on the 14th of October, the answer is the same as for other companies and is a simple ‘yes’,” a company spokesperson told Reuters late on Thursday evening.
Northvolt is due to pay a total of 287 million Swedish crowns ($27.59 million) on Monday, the Swedish Tax Authority told Reuters.
Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that the company was seeking to sell redundant battery materials to raise cash, earlier in the week a unit of Northvolt filed for bankruptcy and the head of its battery cell factory in Northern Sweden was replaced on Wednesday.
$1 = 10.40 Swedish crowns
(By Marie Mannes; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Daniel Wallis and Matthew Lewis)
