A banner hangs outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ahead of the Virgin Galactic (SPCE) IPO in New York, US, October 28, 2019.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Virgin Galactic reported fourth quarter results after the market closed on Thursday, with the company announcing that the next space flight test has been delayed until May.
The company had already focused on the space flight test of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle “Unity” on Feb. 13, which is a repeat of its December flight attempt that was cut short by an engine anomaly. Virgin Galactic’s investor presentation announced that it identified “EMI as the root cause” of the December engine flight abort, revealing “additional EMI effects” during preparations for the February 13 reflight.
While there will be only two pilots on board, the flight is expected to be the first of three as the company aims to complete development of its spacecraft system and start flying paying passengers.
Shares of Virgin Galactic fell a whopping 11% in non-business hours trading after falling 8.4% during the day to close at $ 42.24 a share.
Virgin Galactic’s Unity spacecraft slides in for a landing after a test flight in New Mexico on June 25, 2020.
Virgin Galactic
“We have reached several important milestones in 2020 despite the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic CEO said in a press release. “Looking ahead, we are focused on completing our flight test program, expanding our fleet of spaceships and motherships, and developing our unique and transforming customer experience.”
The space tourism company reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $ 59.5 million, slightly lower than a loss of $ 66 million in the previous quarter. The company posted $ 0 sales in the quarter, as it did in the previous quarter. Virgin Galactic’s fourth-quarter loss of $ 0.31 per share was in line with analysts’ expectations polled by Refinitiv.
The company has approximately $ 666 million in cash at the end of the year, up from approximately $ 742 million in the third quarter.
Virgin Galactic also said it will roll out the next spacecraft in its fleet on March 30, and the first of the SpaceShip III generation. That next spacecraft will begin flight tests this summer.
The company announced earlier on Thursday that CFO Jon Campagna will step down on Monday. He will be succeeded 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, the headquarters of General Motor’s Cruise division.
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