United Airlines Holdings Inc. posted its fourth straight quarter on Wednesday late Wednesday, saying it expects its capacity to decline by at least 51% in the current quarter.
United UAL,
said it lost $ 1.9 billion, or $ 6.39 a share, in the fourth quarter, as opposed to a profit of $ 2.53 a share in the same quarter last year. Operating revenues fell to $ 3.41 billion from $ 10.9 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected United to report a GAAP loss of $ 6.13 per share on revenue of $ 3.42 billion. United shares fell 0.8% in the extended session Wednesday after ending the regular trading day by 1% higher.
United said it expects total operating revenues to fall by 65% to 70% in the first quarter of 2021. “Accelerated” distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine could lead to faster improvement, it said, but the company is not counting on this potential improvement in its first quarter sales outlook.
It was the airline’s fourth straight quarterly loss as pandemic-related travel restrictions and concerns about air travel and virus transmission reduced its operations, including the more lucrative business travel and transatlantic flights.
2021 will be “a transition year focused on preparing for recovery,” the company said in a statement.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, United has raised more than $ 26 billion in liquidity and made significant progress in reducing cash burn,” and has also identified $ 1.4 billion in annual cost savings and has made a path to advance at least $ 2 billion in structural reductions, he said.
The stock has lost about 50% in the last 12 months, as opposed to a gain of about 16% for the S&P 500 index SPX,