Kodak burning through less cashFinancial performance improving
Eastman Kodak Co.’s pool of red ink is getting shallower and the rate at which its U.S. operations are burning through cash ground almost to a halt in October.
The printing and imaging company’s latest monthly operating report, required as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, shows it ended October with $311.4 million in cash on hand. That means Kodak dipped into its reserves to the tune of about $2.5 million in October, which marks a huge improvement over the $60 million or so a month the company had been averaging this year.
The monthly reports give just a slice of insight into how the company is doing. The revenues include only the U.S. operations and not its international businesses, but the expenses include some company-wide costs. Kodak’s international operations are not part of the bankruptcy.
The October report shows a few heartening signs for struggling Kodak:
• Revenues for October were $165.2 million, a slight improvement over September’s $160.6 million. In the monthly reports, Kodak’s U.S. revenues have swung anywhere from $108 million to $173 million, though they seem to have stabilized at roughly the $160 million to $165 million range for the past four months.
• The net loss for October was $83.8 million — a big improvement from September’s $136.5 million loss and more in line with the roughly $80 million losses the company had in July and August.
• October marked the second straight month where Kodak, by one measure, made a profit. Its U.S. operations for the month had a gross profit of $3 million. September’s gross profit was $16.9 million. Gross profits and losses don’t count such business expenses as research and development, taxes, and selling and administrative costs. October marked only the third month that Kodak’s U.S. operations have shown a gross profit since the company filed for bankruptcy protection in January.
Kodak spokeswoman Krista Gleason declined to say whether the company is working toward any particular financial goal that would be reflected in its monthly statements. “We always caution that the monthly operating report does not provide an overall view of the company's financial performance,” she said.
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