DigitalGlobe Posts US$1.8 Mil. Loss Despite Revenue Rise of 54 percent to $164.8-M in 3Q

Longmont, CO, Oct. 31, 2013 — Global provider of high-resolution earth imagery solutions, DigitalGlobe, Inc., reported  third quarter 2013 revenue of US$ 164.8 million, a 54 percent increase compared with the same period last year. Despite the big rise in revenue, the company reported a net loss of $1.8 million and a net loss available to common shareholders of US$ 2.8 million.

This include a loss of US$ 1 million of preferred stock dividends, or $0.04 loss per diluted share, compared with net income available to common stockholders of $8.5 million or $0.18 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2012. Third quarter 2013 EBITDA was US$ 54.5 million.

"We built significant momentum in the business during the third quarter -- accelerating growth, expanding margins and generating positive free cash flow," said Jeffrey R. Tarr, Chief Executive Officer.

"I'm proud of our team's outstanding execution, achieving more than US$ 100 million of synergy savings related to our combination with GeoEye. We remain confident in our ability to drive double-digit growth and to return to 50 percent EBITDA margin after we complete our 18 month integration process in the second half of 2014."

During the third quarter, DigitalGlobe said its U. S. Government revenue grew 53 percent to US$ 100.8 million compared with third quarter 2012, including a 353 percent increase in value-added services to $37.6 million.

Diversified Commercial revenue grew 55 percent to US$ 64 million in the quarter compared with third quarter 2012 and the company’s next 12-month backlog was US$ 515.8 million, up 41 percent year over year, as the company continues to build improved revenue visibility across its customer relationships.

Analysts Raymond James & Associates said DigitalGlobe remains  on track. “We were surprised by the strength of DigitalGlobe’s government value-added services and a little disappointed by commercial weakness, but overall we were pleased with DigitalGlobe’s big picture achievements, including: (1) beating the 3Q adj. EBITDA forecast, (2) hitting integration milestones, (3) growing the backlog, and (4) affirming the 2013,” it said.

For its 2013 outlook, the company said it expects adjusted EBITDA of at least US$ 228 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of at least 36 percent. The company is targeting revenue at the bottom of its original range of US$ 635 million to US$ 660 million. Capital expenditures for the year are expected to be approximately $240 million.

"We are targeting US$ 635 million in revenue, and have high confidence in our ability to deliver upon our original EBITDA margin guidance of 36 percent across a range of revenue scenarios," said Yancey Spruill, Chief Financial Officer.