Nortel Networks, one of the world's biggest telecom equipment makers, has again delayed the release of its long-awaited restated financial results, moving its target by about two weeks to mid-November.

Nortel, whose accounting scandal has drawn regulatory and criminal probes, said it would miss its end-October deadline to file restated results for 2003 and detailed numbers for the first half of 2004 due to the complexity of the work.

The company employs about 1,050 people in Belfast, Galway and Dublin.

The delay, which follows a one-month postponement in September, raises questions about the credibility of Nortel management and whether more bad news has been uncovered, Mr Duncan Stewart, fund manager at Tera Capital, said.

Investors fled the stock following the announcement. Nortel shares fell 16 Canadian cents to Can$4.01 on the Toronto Stock Exchange and 13 US cents to US$3.26 in New York.

Nortel, which has spent months trying to untangle accounting irregularities, has dedicated 650 staff to this second restatement of results.

Nortel is cutting 3,250 staff, about 10 per cent of its employees, and vacating building space to lower costs.