Longmont-based DigitalGlobe is expecting sharper images from space to boost revenues next year.
The company’s third quarter 2014 financial results, released Thursday afternoon, revealed net income of $900,000 — an improvement over the company’s third-quarter 2013 net loss of $1.8 million. The company logged a 6.2 percent revenue decline compared with the third quarter 2013.
It’s only going to get better in February, when the company will be permitted to sell the 30-centimeter resolution Earth images captured by its WorldView-3 satellite, DigitalGlobe CEO Jeffrey Tarr said during Thursday’s earnings call.
“We expect by the middle of next year we should see a return to double-digit growth,” he said. “Early indications are that the price-lift on 30-centimeter will be anywhere from … 125 up to 150 percent, or more, of what we’ve been charging for 50-centimeter.”
Until recently, Earth images sharper than 50-centimeter resolution were prohibited to be sold to non-U.S. government customers. In June, the federal government cleared the company to sell up to 25-centimeter resolution images, opening up a revenue stream for the company.
WorldView-3, DigitalGlobe’s latest global imaging satellite, was launched in August. It can produce 31-centimeter resolution images — sharp enough to see objects on the ground measuring about 1-foot across.
DigitalGlobe previously was dependent on a handful of large U.S. government contracts, but with the change in regulations, the goal of transforming into a larger geospatial data company is a step closer.
The company’s diversified commercial revenue grew to $66.8 million, a 4.4 percent increase from third quarter 2013.
DigitalGlobe has signed multi-year agreements with yet-unnamed companies to monitor gas pipelines in Asia from space. They will also assist a power company in Brazil with reservoir management and work with several organizations to use imaging to help fight infectious disease in Africa.
“It’s a hallmark of our purpose of seeing a better world,” said interim chief financial officer Fred Graffam on Thursday’s call.
The third quarter marked the completion of DigitalGlobe’s 18-month-long integration of GeoEye after the two companies merged in Jan. 2013. DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-4 satellite, previously known as GeoEye-2, has completed pre-storage construction in preparation for a planned 2016 launch, the company said.
Tarr said DigitalGlobe’s latest achievements mark the beginning of prosperity after a period of preparation. “We are poised to enter a new era of strong, free cash flow and improving returns,” Tarr said. “This will enable us to continue to pursue our billion-dollar revenue growth aspirations, while simultaneously returning capital to shareowners.”
Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or twitter.com/LauraKeeney
