Kodak, a name once synonymous with compact cameras and a classic case study in missing the digital photography boat, has categorically denied it’s about to cease operations or go bankrupt.
The strongly worded response comes after the company issued a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the US at the beginning of the week, where it stated its current financial situation ‘raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.’ Kodak’s share price subsequently nose-dived, falling by 25% at one point.
The update from Kodak seems to have calmed investor nerves, as the share price was up by 18% at the time of writing.
So what is Kodak now saying?
While the latest Kodak statement includes a lot of number crunching, here are its key comebacks:
- Kodak has no plans to cease operations, go out of business, or file for bankruptcy protection.
- To the contrary, Kodak is confident it will repay, extend, or refinance its debt and preferred stock on, or before, its due date.
- When the transactions we have planned are completed, which is expected to be early next year, Kodak will have a stronger balance sheet than we have had in years and will be virtually net debt free.
- The “going concern disclosure” is a technical report that is required by accounting rules.
- We will continue to meet our obligations to all pension fund participants.
Kodak added that ‘media reports that Kodak is ceasing operations, going out of business, or filing for bankruptcy are inaccurate and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of a recent technical disclosure the Company made to the SEC in its recently filed second quarter earnings report.’
Whose camera and printer is it anyway?
As mentioned in our original news story, Kodak PixPro digital compacts are now manufactured and sold by JK Imaging Ltd., a separate company that licences the Kodak brand. Kodak printers, meanwhile, are made by a South Korean company, Prinics Co., again under licence.
And while Kodak still makes photographic film, the actual sale and distribution of this film is handled by a British company, Kodak Alaris.
