Maxar misses revenue estimates after quarter of debt-cutting

WESTMINSTER — Maxar Technologies Inc. (NYSE: MAXR) made more than $40 million less in the previous quarter than analysts expected after a period of cost-cutting.
The Westminster-based satellite company posted $410 million in revenue last quarter against Wall State consensus estimates of $452.2 million, according to data compiled by Seeking Alpha.
The figure doesn’t include the value of a $142 million contract with NASA that was signed at the end of January.
However, Maxar’s earnings-per-share figure of 70 cents beat analyst consensus estimates by 19 cents.
In a prepared statement, CEO Dan Jablonsky said the company spent much of the quarter cutting down its debt load and restructuring its future businesses in satellite intelligence and space infrastructure.
“We made solid progress during the year in positioning Maxar for sustained top and bottom-line growth, including efforts to reduce debt and leverage levels,” he said.
Maxar focused heavily on reducing its debt load via the $765 million sale of its Canadian subsidiary to a group of private equity firms and a $291 million sale of its Palo Alto campus right before the close of the quarter. It last reported $4.34 billion in total liabilities at the beginning of the fourth quarter last year, with $3.1 billion of that in long-term debt.
Its long-term debt figure for the end of the period was $2.91 billion, primarily because the sale of its Canadian subsidiary is due to close in the summer of 2020.
Maxar’s year-end revenue was $1.66 billion in 2019, a 7.6 percent decrease from 2018.