- In June 2015, the Company announced its plans to build, launch and operate the OptiSAR Constellation and, in March 2016, the Company announced its plans to build, launch and operate the UrtheDaily Constellation.
- Today, the Company announced that it had entered into a contract with a value in excess of one hundred million Canadian dollars with a confidential customer for the development and delivery of a dual-frequency stand-alone SAR operational-class satellite as an accelerator mission for the OptiSAR Constellation. This contract will allow the Company to accelerate both the operationalization of the SAR technology and the start of the SAR data services business.
- The Company believes that the sale of one or more accelerator SAR satellites mitigates some of the technical risks associated with the OptiSAR Constellation and assists in demonstrating the advantages of the SAR technology to the market. The accelerator program also allows the Company to continue to work closely with its current and prospective OptiSAR customers to refine the technical specifications. Selling one or more stand-alone SAR satellites provides a means to finance a significant portion of the ongoing development costs of the OptiSAR Constellation.
- While the Company continues to work towards consummating deals with potential OptiSAR customers, it is now believed that the OptiSAR Constellation will not begin operations prior to 2023, or approximately 12 months later than previously expected. The primary reason for this delay is a result of the challenges involved in converting customer interest into binding contracts.
- The development of the UrtheDaily Constellation continues to progress and, subject to financing the UrtheDaily Constellation before the end of 2017, management believes that the UrtheDaily Constellation remains on schedule to commence operations in 2020. The Company continues to validate market interest in data and services derived from the UrtheDaily constellation as evidenced by the previously announced strategic partnerships with OmniEarth, Inc. in July 2016, the advance data subscription agreement with GEOSYS, a subsidiary of Land O'Lakes, Inc., announced in February 2017. The Company continues to engage in negotiations with additional prospective UrtheDaily data purchasers, as well as potential lenders and financing partners for the financing of the UrtheDaily Constellation.
- Although the above statements reflect the Company's current views on the OptiSAR Constellation and the UrtheDaily Constellation, the completion of the Constellations are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political, timing and social uncertainties and contingencies and there can be no guarantee that the Constellations will be completed on the expected time frame or at all.
"The results this quarter are in line with our expectations and our guidance for the year, which we are maintaining," said Wade Larson, UrtheCast's President and CEO. "Our focus has been on progressing our strategic initiatives for long-term shareholder value, and we're really pleased with the progress we're making."
SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The following table provides selected financial information of the Company, which was derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017.
(in thousands of Canadian dollars) |
Three Months Ended June 30, |
Six Months Ended June 30, | ||||||
|
|
2017 |
|
2016 |
|
2017 |
|
2016 |
Revenue |
$ |
11,854 |
$ |
20,973 |
$ |
21,250 |
$ |
33,125 |
Other operating income |
|
61 |
|
695 |
|
111 |
|
695 |
|
|
11,915 |
|
21,668 |
|
21,361 |
|
33,820 |
Operating costs |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Direct costs, selling, general and administrative expenses |
|
10,894 |
|
13,915 |
|
21,403 |
|
29,042 |
Research expenditures |
|
112 |
|
1,493 |
|
388 |
|
3,229 |
Depreciation and amortization |
|
4,188 |
|
6,392 |
|
8,662 |
|
12,956 |
Asset impairment |
|
309 |
|
- |
|
309 |
|
- |
Share-based payments |
|
878 |
|
565 |
|
1,211 |
|
1,123 |
|
|
16,381 |
|
22,365 |
|
31,973 |
|
46,350 |
Operating loss |
|
(4,466) |
|
(697) |
|
(10,612) |
|
(12,530) |
Net finance costs |
|
(436) |
|
(580) |
|
(878) |
|
(1,101) |
Gain on derivative financial instruments |
|
681 |
|
- |
|
923 |
|
- |
Foreign exchange loss |
|
(986) |
|
(210) |
|
(1,205) |
|
(402) |
Loss before income taxes |
|
(5,207) |
|
(1,487) |
|
(11,772) |
|
(14,033) |
Income tax recovery |
|
1,302 |
|
1,210 |
|
2,788 |
|
2,656 |
Net loss |
|
(3,905) |
|
(277) |
|
(8,984) |
|
(11,377) |
Other comprehensive income (loss) |
|
2,463 |
|
(1,498) |
|
3,004 |
|
(3,457) |
Comprehensive loss |
$ |
(1,442) |
$ |
(1,775) |
$ |
(5,980) |
$ |
(14,834) |
Net loss per share – basic and diluted |
$ |
(0.03) |
$ |
(0.00) |
$ |
(0.08) |
$ |
(0.11) |