General Motors Co. said it will delay by two weeks the release of financial results for the fourth quarter, which will be the first official disclosure of the auto maker's financial performance since exiting bankruptcy last year, reported The Wall Street Journal.

GM had agreed with the U.S. Treasury under its government-funded reorganization to complete the report by Wednesday, but the company said in a regulatory filling that it needs more time. The report is now due by April 15, according to the filing.

"Given the enormity of the undertaking, we wanted to make sure and take the appropriate time necessary to get this done," GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said.

The fourth-quarter figures will be based on so-called fresh-start accounting that applies to the Detroit-based company after it exited Chapter 11. GM must adjust its debts and assets to reflect their fair-market values.

Such adjustments can alter depreciation and amortization levels, and usually have a substantial, positive impact on a company's balance sheet. GM also will release updated figures for the third quarter that reflect the new accounting standards.

The data are expected to show GM burned through billions of dollars in cash in the last three months of 2009, in part because it started repaying loans from the U.S. and other governments.

Earlier this month, GM's chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, said the company is making progress toward getting those accounting standards in place.