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A banner is hung outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ahead of the Virgin Galactic (SPCE) IPO in New York, the United States, October 28, 2019.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Virgin Galactic delivered its fourth quarter results after the market closed on Thursday, with the company revealing that its next space flight test is postponed until May.
As early as February 13, the company targeted the space flight test of its SpaceShipTwo “Unity” vehicle, which represents a repeat of its flight attempt in December which was interrupted by an engine anomaly. Virgin Galactic’s investor presentation revealed that it “identified EMI as the root cause” of the December engine flight disruption, with “additional EMI impacts” discovered during preparations for the February 13 reflight.
While only two pilots will be on board, the flight is expected to be the first of three as the company seeks to complete development of its spacecraft system and begin flying paying passengers.
Virgin Galactic shares fell 11% after-hours trading, after falling 8.4% during the day to close at $ 42.24 per share.
Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft is heading for a landing after a flight test in New Mexico on June 25, 2020.
Galactic Virgo
“We have achieved several important milestones in 2020 despite the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said in a press release. “Going forward, we are focused on completing our test flight program, expanding our fleet of spacecraft and motherships, and developing our unique and transformative customer experience.
The space tourism company reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $ 59.5 million, down slightly from a loss of $ 66 million in the prior quarter. The company reported sales of $ 0 in the quarter, as it did in the previous quarter. Virgin Galactic’s loss of $ 0.31 per share in the fourth quarter was in line with the expectations of analysts polled by Refinitiv.
The company has about $ 666 million in cash at the end of the year, up from about $ 742 million in the third quarter.
Virgin Galactic also announced that it will deploy the next spacecraft in its fleet, and the first of the SpaceShip III generation, on March 30. This next spacecraft will begin flight tests this summer.
The company announced earlier Thursday that CFO Jon Campagna is stepping down, effective Monday. He will be replaced by Doug Ahrens, former CFO of semiconductor specialist Mellanox.
Virgin Galactic revealed in a securities filing that James Ryans, a director of Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings, resigned from the company’s board of directors on February 22. He was replaced by Gil West, COO of General Motor’s Cruise division.
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