United Airlines Holdings Inc. posted its fourth consecutive quarter of losses late Wednesday, saying it expects capacity to decline by 51% in the current quarter.
United UAL,
said it lost $ 1.9 billion or $ 6.39 per share in the fourth quarter, as opposed to $ 2.53 per share earnings in the previous quarter. Operating income 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 sales of $ 3.42 billion. United shares fell 0.8% on Wednesday after the normal trading day increased by 1%.
United said it expects total operating income to fall by 65% to 70% in the first quarter of 2021. An ‘accelerated’ distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine could lead to faster improvement, he said, but the company does not count on this potential improvement in its outlook for the first quarter.
It was the fourth consecutive quarterly loss of airline, as travel restrictions on pandemics and concerns over air travel and virus spread cut off, including more lucrative business travel and trans-Atlantic flights.
2021 will be a ‘transition year aimed at preparing for recovery,’ the company said in a statement.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, United have amassed more than $ 26 billion in liquidity and made significant strides in reducing nuclear cash burning,” identifying $ 1.4 billion in annual cost savings and paving the way to reach at least $ 2 billion structural reductions move forward, it is said.
The stock has lost about 50% over the past twelve months, as opposed to a gain of about 16% for the S&P 500 index SPX.