CHICAGO,– Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO), the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation, today announced its financial results for the quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2019.
Q4 and Full-Year 2019 Highlights
Fourth Quarter 2019 Consolidated Financial Results
COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update
Given the uncertain impact that the quickly evolving COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic will have on our business, Gogo is not providing 2020 financial guidance in this release. Gogo is closely tracking the impact of COVID-19 on global travel and its airline partners specifically and will provide a further update as appropriate.
“Our efforts are currently centered on managing the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak on our customers and employees,” said Oakleigh Thorne, Gogo’s President and CEO. “Gogo finished 2019 strongly as the Company benefitted from continued execution and a sharp uptick in our BA results in the fourth quarter. We are focused on positioning the Company for ultimate value creation as our industry rapidly evolves.”
“Our operational and financial discipline produced Free Cash Flow well ahead of our projections for the year and record Adjusted EBITDA,” said Barry Rowan, Gogo’s Executive Vice President and CFO. “Our Free Cash Flow improvement of $163 million in 2019 versus 2018 significantly exceeded our guidance of an improvement of $100 million.”
Fourth Quarter 2019 Business Segment Financial Results
Business Aviation (BA)
Commercial Aviation – North America (CA-NA)
Commercial Aviation – Rest of World (CA-ROW)
Full-Year 2019 Consolidated Financial Results
(1) |
See “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below. |
(2) |
Please refer to the definition of “backlog” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 13, 2020, under the heading “Contracts with Airline Partners” in Item 1. |
Change in Reportable Segment Presentation
During the fourth quarter of 2019, the Company revised the presentation of its reportable segments’ operating results in order to exclude the impact of certain corporate costs from the calculation of total reportable segment profit (loss). This change is intended to provide better visibility to the operating performance of the Company’s reportable segments by excluding the costs of corporate functions that are not directly attributable to the Company’s reportable segments (including costs associated with executive, legal, finance and human resources). This change has also been applied retrospectively to the Company’s comparative historical financial information presented in this earnings release. This revised presentation of reportable segment operating results does not impact Gogo’s consolidated results or reportable segment revenue or cost of revenue.
Conference Call
The Company will host its fourth quarter conference call on March 13, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. ET. A live webcast of the conference call, as well as a replay, will be available online on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website at http://ir.gogoair.com. Participants can access the call by dialing (844) 464-3940 (within the United States and Canada) or (765) 507-2646 (international dialers) and entering conference ID number 4185846.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We report certain non-GAAP financial measurements, including Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow in the supplemental tables below. Management uses Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow for business planning purposes, including managing our business against internally projected results of operations and measuring our performance and liquidity. These supplemental performance measures also provide another basis for comparing period to period results by excluding potential differences caused by non-operational and unusual or non-recurring items. These supplemental performance measurements may vary from and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Unlevered Free Cash Flow are not recognized measurements under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP; when analyzing our performance with Adjusted EBITDA or liquidity with Free Cash Flow or Unlevered Free Cash Flow, as applicable, investors should (i) evaluate each adjustment in our reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP measure, and the explanatory footnotes regarding those adjustments, (ii) use Adjusted EBITDA in addition to, and not as an alternative to, net loss attributable to common stock as a measure of operating results and (iii) use Free Cash Flow or Unlevered Free Cash Flow in addition to, and not as an alternative to, consolidated net cash provided by (used in) operating activities when evaluating our liquidity.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain disclosures in this press release and related comments by our management include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our business outlook, industry, business strategy, plans, goals and expectations concerning our market position, international expansion, future technologies, future operations, margins, profitability, future efficiencies, capital expenditures, liquidity and capital resources and other financial and operating information. When used in this discussion, the words “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “budget,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “future” and the negative of these or similar terms and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking statements in this press release.
Forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations regarding future events, results or outcomes. These expectations may or may not be realized. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give you no assurance these expectations will prove to have been correct. Some of these expectations may be based upon assumptions, data or judgments that prove to be incorrect. Actual events, results and outcomes may differ materially from our expectations due to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors, they include, among others, the following: the loss of or failure to realize the anticipated benefits from agreements with our airline partners or customers on a timely basis or any failure to renew any existing agreements upon expiration or termination, including the results of our ongoing discussions with Delta Air Lines with respect to its transition to free service, which may involve a decision to pursue supplier diversification for its domestic mainline fleet; the failure to maintain airline and passenger satisfaction with our equipment or our service; any inability to timely and efficiently deploy and operate our 2Ku service or implement our technology roadmap, including developing and deploying upgrades and installations of our ATG-4 and 2Ku technologies, Gogo 5G, any technology to which our ATG or satellite networks evolve and other new technologies, for any reason, including technological issues and related remediation efforts, changes in regulations or regulatory delays affecting us, or our suppliers, some of whom are single source, or the failure by our airline partners or customers to roll out equipment upgrades or new services or adopt new technologies in order to support increased demand and network capacity constraints, including as a result of airline partners shifting to a free-to-passenger business model; the timing of deinstallation of our equipment from aircraft, including deinstallations resulting from aircraft retirements and other deinstallations permitted by certain airline contract provisions; the loss of relationships with original equipment manufacturers or dealers; our ability to make our equipment factory line-fit available on a timely basis; our ability to develop or purchase ATG and satellite network capacity sufficient to accommodate current and expected growth in passenger demand in North America and internationally as we expand; our reliance on third-party suppliers, some of whom are single source, for satellite capacity and other services and the equipment we use to provide services to commercial airlines and their passengers and business aviation customers; unfavorable economic conditions in the airline industry and/or the economy as a whole, including those related to the impact of COVID-19 on restrictions on and demand for air travel as well as disruptions to supply chain and installations; governmental action restricting trade with China or other foreign countries; our ability to expand our international or domestic operations, including our ability to grow our business with current and potential future airline partners and customers and the effect of shifts in business models, including a shift toward airlines providing free service to passengers; an inability to compete effectively with other current or future providers of in-flight connectivity services and other products and services that we offer, including on the basis of price, service performance and line-fit availability; our ability to successfully develop and monetize new products and services such as Gogo Vision and Gogo TV, including those that were recently released, are currently being offered on a limited or trial basis, or are in various stages of development; our ability to certify and install our equipment and deliver our products and services, including newly developed products and services, on schedules consistent with our contractual commitments to customers; the failure of our equipment or material defects or errors in our software resulting in recalls or substantial warranty claims; a revocation of, or reduction in, our right to use licensed spectrum, the availability of other air-to-ground spectrum to a competitor or the repurposing by a competitor of other spectrum for air-to-ground use; our use of open source software and licenses; the effects of service interruptions or delays, technology failures and equipment failures or malfunctions arising from defects or errors in our software or defects in or damage to our equipment; the limited operating history of our CA-ROW segment; contract changes and implementation issues resulting from decisions by airlines to transition from the turnkey model to the airline-directed model or vice versa; increases in our projected capital expenditures due to, among other things, unexpected costs incurred in connection with the roll-out of our technology roadmap or our international expansion; compliance with U.S. and foreign government regulations and standards, including those related to regulation of the Internet, including e-commerce or online video distribution changes, and the installation and operation of satellite equipment and our ability to obtain and maintain all necessary regulatory approvals to install and operate our equipment in the United States and foreign jurisdictions; our, or our technology suppliers’, inability to effectively innovate; obsolescence of, and our ability to access parts, products, equipment and support services compatible with, our existing products and technologies; costs associated with defending existing or future intellectual property infringement, securities and derivative litigation and other litigation or claims and any negative outcome or effect of pending or future litigation; our ability to protect our intellectual property; breaches of the security of our information technology network, resulting in unauthorized access to our customers’ credit card information or other personal information; our substantial indebtedness, limitations and restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness and our ability to service our indebtedness; our ability to obtain additional financing for operations, or financing intended to refinance our existing indebtedness on acceptable terms or at all; fluctuations in our operating results; our ability to attract and retain customers and to capitalize on revenue from our platform; the demand for and market acceptance of our products and services; changes or developments in the regulations that apply to us, our business and our industry, including changes or developments affecting the ability of passengers or airlines to use our in-flight connectivity services; a future act or threat of terrorism, cybersecurity attack or other events that could result in adverse regulatory changes or developments, or otherwise adversely affect our business and industry; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, including key personnel; the effectiveness of our marketing and advertising and our ability to maintain and enhance our brands; our ability to manage our growth in a cost-effective manner and integrate and manage acquisitions; compliance with anti-corruption laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the (U.K.) Bribery Act 2010; restrictions on the ability of U.S. companies to do business in foreign countries, including, among others, restrictions imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control; difficulties in collecting accounts receivable; our ability to successfully implement improvements to systems, operations, strategy and procedures needed to support our growth and to effectively evaluate and pursue strategic opportunities; and other events beyond our control that may result in unexpected adverse operating results.
Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found under the caption “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 13, 2020.
Any one of these factors or a combination of these factors could materially affect our financial condition or future results of operations and could influence whether any forward-looking statements contained in this report ultimately prove to be accurate. Our forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and you should not place undue reliance on them. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Gogo
Gogo is the inflight internet company. We are the leading global provider of broadband connectivity products and services for aviation. We design and source innovative network solutions that connect aircraft to the Internet, and develop software and platforms that enable customizable solutions for and by our aviation partners. Once connected, we provide industry leading reliability around the world. Our mission is to help aviation go farther by making planes fly smarter, so our aviation partners perform better and their passengers travel happier.
Gogo’s products and services are installed on thousands of aircraft operated by the leading global commercial airlines and thousands of private aircraft, including those of the largest fractional ownership operators. Gogo is headquartered in Chicago, IL, with additional facilities in Broomfield, CO, and locations across the globe.