United Airlines Holdings Inc. late Wednesday its fourth straight quarter of a loss, saying it expects its capacity to be down at least 51% in the current quarter.
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it said it lost $ 1.9 billion, or $ 6.39 a share, in the fourth quarter, compared to gains of $ 2.53 a share in the quarter a year ago. Operating revenue fell to $ 3.41 billion, compared to $ 10.9 billion a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected United to report a GAAP loss of $ 6.13 a share on sales of $ 3.42 billion. United shares fell 0.8% in Wednesday’s extended session after ending the regular trading day up 1%.
United said it expects total operating income for the first quarter of 2021 to fall 65% to 70%. “Accelerated” release of the COVID-19 vaccine could lead to faster development, he said, but the company is not counting on this development which could be a first-quarter revenue outlook. .
This was the fourth quarterly loss after the airline as travel restrictions related to pandemics and concerns about air travel and virus spreads cut back on its business, including business travel. more profitable and flights across the ocean.
2021 will be a “transition year that aims to prepare for recovery,” the company said in a statement.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, United has raised over $ 26 billion in liquidity and made significant progress in reducing underlying cash flow” and has also made $ 1.4 billion in annual cost savings and has a path to achieve at least $ 2 billion in structural reductions moving forward, he said.
The stock has lost about 50% in the last 12 months, compared to gains of around 16% for the S&P 500 SPX index,