Rocket Lab 'in good position' to catch-up later on revenues lost to Delta delay
Thursday, 9 September 2021
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck has expressed hope New Zealand’s tough lockdown restrictions will lift by the end of September, allowing it to catch up on launches that have been delayed because of the Delta outbreak.
The company on Thursday reported an increased net loss of US$32.5 million (NZ$45.7m) for the six months to the end of June, in its first result as a publicly-listed company, but that hasn’t stopped investors flocking to the stock.
It revealed it expected New Zealand’s level 4 lockdown would slice US$10m to US$15m off its revenues in the second half of the year.
But Beck said on a conference call with analysts that the fact the company had its “own private launchpad” on the Māhia Peninsular put it in a good position to catch up on launches once restrictions eased.
It previously had three launches scheduled for late August and September, before the Delta outbreak.
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New Zealand had some of the “most restrictive Covid measures globally” including current ‘stay at home orders’ which prevented launch operations from taking place, Beck said.
“In addition, New Zealand's strict international border restrictions have created delays. However, we have been successful in securing our customers’ entry into New Zealand so far,” he said.
Rocket Lab’s loss rose 39 per cent from US$23.8m in the same half of 2020.
But the company highlighted the fact its revenues more than tripled, growing by 237 per cent over the period, to US$29.5m.
The value of its backlog of booked launches more than doubled, rising 136 per cent to US$141m.
The fact Rocket Lab’s Electron rockets are currently grounded due to Auckland’s level 4 Delta lockdown, hasn’t stopped its share price from taking off on the United States Nasdaq exchange since the company listed on August 26.
Its shares jumped to US$15.09 by the time trading closed on Thursday morning, New Zealand time, and climbed another 4.3 per cent to US$15.75 in after-hours trading after it released its financial result.
That is more than a 50 per cent premium on the price at which it offered shares to investors in its initial public offering.
Rocket Lab forecast its revenues in the three months to the end of September would total only US$4m to US$5m and would be between $50m and $54m for the full year to the end of December.
That assumed lockdown restrictions that have prevented launches were over by the end of September.
At the same time as releasing its results, Rocket Lab reported it had secured a deal to conduct five launches of its Electron rockets for French company Kineis, to deploy 25 satellites that will be used for telemetry.
It expected those launches to take place in a “rapid sequence” in the first half of 2023.
Beck said the company’s Nasda listing had positioned Rocket Lab well to continue our expansion into space systems and further develop of its new line of much larger “8-ton payload class Neutron launch vehicles”.