SEATTLE (Reuters) - Billionaire Richard Branson’s space tourism company, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (SPCE.N), said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $73 million from a year-ago loss of $46 million as it reported its first results as a publicly traded company.The quarterly results, which include one-time transaction and other related costs, come as the company is aiming for a first commercial flight later this year with Branson on board.
"It will be a transformative moment for the company," Chief Executive George Whitesides told analysts on a conference call, adding that revenue and cash flow will ramp up in 2021.
Shares of Virgin Galactic were volatile in after-hours trading and were last down 6.4%. Shares had rallied in recent days, driven by investor interest in the first space tourism company to hit public markets.
Virgin Galactic competes with billionaire-backed ventures such as Blue Origin, founded by Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) CEO Jeff Bezos, to be the first to offer suborbital flights to fare-paying thrill seekers, presaging a new era of civilian space travel that could kick off as soon as this year.