United Airlines Holdings Inc. posted its fourth consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday afternoon, saying it expects its capacity to drop by at least 51% in the current quarter.
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it said it lost $ 1.9 billion, or $ 6.39 per share, in the fourth quarter, in contrast to the $ 2.53 per share earnings for the previous year’s quarter. Operating income fell to $ 3.41 billion, compared to $ 10.9 billion the previous year.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected United to report a GAAP loss of $ 6.13 per share on sales of $ 3,422 million. Shares of United fell 0.8% in Wednesday’s extended session after the end of the ordinary trading day by 1%.
United said it expects total operating income for the first quarter of 2021 to drop from 65% to 70%. An “accelerated” distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine could lead to a faster improvement, he said, but the company does not have that potential improvement in its first-quarter revenue forecasts.
It was the airline’s fourth consecutive quarterly loss, as pandemic-related travel restrictions and concerns about air transportation and virus transmission reduced its business, including business travel and more transatlantic flights. lucrative.
2021 will be “a year of transition focused on preparing for a 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 the basic cash burn.” structural reductions were advancing, he said.
Shares have lost about 50% in the last twelve months, in contrast to gains of about 16% in the S&P 500 SPX index,