United Airlines Holdings Inc. on Wednesday reported the fourth consecutive quarter of losses, saying it expects its capacity to drop by at least 51% in the current quarter.
United UAL,
said it lost $ 1.9 billion, or $ 6.39 per share, in the fourth quarter, in contrast to gains of $ 2.53 per share in the same quarter last year. Operating income fell to $ 3.41 billion, compared with $ 10.9 billion a year ago.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected United to post a GAAP loss of $ 6.13 per share on sales of $ 3.42 billion. United’s shares fell 0.8% in Wednesday’s extended session after ending the regular trading day with a 1% rise.
United said it expects total operating revenue for the first quarter of 2021 to fall from 65% to 70%. An “accelerated” distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine could lead to faster improvement, he said, but the company is not counting on this potential improvement in its first quarter revenue outlook.
It was the airline’s fourth consecutive quarterly loss as travel restrictions related to the pandemic and concerns about air travel and virus transmission cut its business, including more profitable business travel and transatlantic flights.
2021 will be “a transition year 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 has made significant progress in reducing primary cash consumption” and has also identified $ 1.4 billion in annual cost savings and has a path to at least $ 2 billion in structural reductions moving forward, he said.
The shares lost about 50% in the last 12 months, contrasting with gains of around 16% in the S&P 500 SPX index,