UrtheCast Reports First Quarter 2015 Financial Results
UrtheCast Corp. (TSX:UR) (“UrtheCast” or the “Company”), a technology company that is developing the world’s first Ultra HD video platform of Earth from space, today announces financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2015. The Company reported comprehensive income of $264,000 in the quarter, compared to a loss of $3.9 million in the same quarter last year. The Company’s working capital position increased from $21.8 million at December 31, 2014 to $24 million at March 31, 2015 — an improvement of $2.2 million, with a cash balance of $12.7 million. Subsequent to the quarter end, the balance sheet was strengthened by the closing of an equity financing for gross proceeds $17.25 million through the issuance of 8,625,000 Common Shares at $2.00 per share.
Recent highlights include:
Initial Revenue Recognition
UrtheCast recognized $3.3 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2015, primarily from the previously-announced data and value-added engineering services contract.
Bi-Axial Pointing Platform (“BPP”) & High Resolution Camera (“HRC”)
Commissioning of the HRC is progressing well and UrtheCast continues to expect to reach initial operations this summer. The Company is now acquiring multiple videos per day, and is making good progress on the commissioning of the BPP and the ground-processing algorithms. While the test video UrtheCast previously disclosed had a Ground Sampling Distance (“GSD”) of 1.5 m, the Company is pleased to report that it is currently processing videos at a GSD of 1.0 m.
HRC First Light Event Planned
UrtheCast has now scheduled a first light event for its high-resolution videos, to be held on June 16th.
US$9 Million Contract to Provide Space Hardware and Engineering Services
UrtheCast announced the signing of a US$9 million contract for the provision of space hardware and engineering services. Work on the project began in April and it is anticipated that hardware will be delivered to the customer in 2017.
Business Interruption Insurance Payment
As previously announced, UrtheCast was awarded an insurance claim of up to $11.5 million, of which $2.25 million was accrued during the first quarter of 2015, which is in addition to the $7.75 million that was already received in Q4 of 2014. The remaining funds will be accrued at $750,000 per month up until May 2015, or whenever the HRC achieves Initial Operating Capability (“IOC”).
MRC Update
UrtheCast is actively filling orders for Medium-Resolution Camera (“MRC”) imagery. Customer feedback is positive and revenue visibility continues to grow.
Website Development
The web platform remains in a private beta phase. As a part of the core of the UrtheCast vision, this platform will enable the democratization of Earth Observation data, and a public understanding of how the world changes over time. New features, including ordering and publishing services, are planned for launch in mid-2015, with continued, routine releases of new functionality and datasets thereafter.
“This was a great start to the year”, explained Scott Larson, UrtheCast’s Chief Executive Officer. “The technical progress that we’ve made, the revenue we’ve generated, our solid financial position, and our customers’ interest in what we have to offer all point to 2015 being a good year for UrtheCast.”
