Kodak Posts Q1 loss of $246M; 14% decline in film revenues

[removed account4]

Simon - thanks for info. And for continuing to support film!

+1

HUGE THANKS !

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Lots of finger pointing at the price of silver, which is in a wobble at the moment, shedding 24%++ over the last month and still falling Seems investors and speculators want high-performing currencies now...
Kodak's lack of competitiveness is its major weakness in the global market.

 

[munz6869]

Well, I just bought my annual giant box of travel film, and it's all Kodak - TXP320, Portra 160, and I'd already stocked up on Plus-X before it vanished!! So I've done my bit for now - long may they continue to produce such great products (and then when they stop... Ilford!)

Marc!

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Lots of finger pointing at the price of silver, which is in a wobble at the moment, shedding 24%++ over the last month and still falling Seems investors and speculators want high-performing currencies now...
Kodak's lack of competitiveness is its major weakness in the global market.

You hit the nail on the head with your last sentence. Kodak has been introducing cameras and other tech like printers behind the curve, and advertising cheap low cost digicams, with lack luster specs and quality. As well as dumping ad money into the most random celebrities (take a look at kodak1000 words).

As for the silver and aluminum, Kodak's buyers should have been intelligent enough to have known to buy and price their silver though set forward contracts, as a hedge that should have started alongside the rise of precious metals commodity prices (like gold a few years back, in the recession). A large buyer like kodak would have been shielded somewhat from the majority of the spike in commodities trading and the recent drop is great for them aswell. You cant do much with aluminum as the market is incredibly broad, except either absorb the cost or pass it onto consumers.

Kodak needs to either acquire a tech firm with a capability to leap the curve in tech, refocus their brand image clearly, and not discount their long standing film user base (their site used to have much more info for film users, and the deletion of film lines), or develop a film product thats cheaper than silver based ones.

A recent resurgence of film users, is something Kodak should foster and promote. Not the cheapo digi cams which are and will be replaced by cell phone cameras.

 

[hpulley]

I found film one click from the www.kodak.com web page in two places. Under Kodak Store there is Consumer Film; and in the upper right there is an All Products and Services drop down and the Pro Photographer / Lab selection takes you right to a page which advertises Portra and has pictures of models taken with Portra. Motion picture film is also one click off the main page. Perhaps this is the Canadian version of their homepage. It isn't much but it's something.

Kodak needs to figure out who they figure their customers are these days, find out the needs of those customers and produce products which delight them without reservation. You can insert any company name into that sentence if you like as it is the overall key to success: figure out who you're selling to and what they need so you can make the best damn products on the planet for them to keep them so happy that they don't want to try or buy anything else. Kodak has so many product lines for so many customers that it is difficult for them to know. It is much simpler if you know you are a film company making the best damn film, paper and chems ever.

http://investor.kodak.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=115911&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1555971&highlight=

Revenue from the company's core digital growth businesses - Consumer and Commercial Inkjet, Packaging Solutions, and Workflow Software & Services - increased by 23%, fueled by agreater than 50% increase in Consumer Inkjet. First-quarter revenue from the company's Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group declined by 14%.

"Our strategy is working," said Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eastman Kodak Company. "We saw continued momentum in our strategic digital growth businesses, revenue growth in several of our established digital businesses, and improved cash performance, all of which position us well to achieve our two key financial metrics for the year related to growth and cash.

"I am particularly pleased with the performance of our core digital growth businesses -- Consumer and Commercial Inkjet, Packaging Solutions, and Workflow Software & Services. Revenue growth in these businesses continues to accelerate and in the first quarter grew by a combined 23%, in line with our plan to grow these businesses in aggregate by 40% for the full year," Perez said. "We also saw revenue growth in Prepress Solutions, Electrophotographic Printing, and Document Imaging. We are off to a good start for 2011, and we remain confident that we will complete our transformation into a sustainable, profitable company in 2012."

First-quarter 2011 cash usage, before restructuring payments, was $449 million, a $7 million improvement from the year-ago quarter. This corresponds to net cash used in continuing operations from operating activities on a GAAP basis of $515 million in the first quarter, compared with net cash used in continuing operations from operating activities on a GAAP basis of $471 million in the first quarter of 2010.
Kodak held $1.3 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31, 2011, compared with $1.5 billion on the same date a year ago.

They're making a transition and milking an old product as cash for the transition. In some ways I'm more afraid of them achieving full success in their digital transformation. They may need film less once they're fully profitable in the other segments and for reasons discussed ad naseum it may not really be possible to sell the film and entertainment division to someone else. I hope they don't just shut it down due to losses and sell off the equipment for scrap. I really hope I'm wrong there... and will continue to buy the Kodak film products that I use while they make them.

I'm not going to try and stock up for a lifetime as I can't afford to do so and don't want to risk a lifetime of frozen film and paper to a 3-day power failure or something like that (three days of diesel generator backup? no, No, NO). Sure, I stock up on a few pro packs now and then but I can shoot a pro pack of 120 in an afternoon easily.

 

[Diapositivo]

I'm not going to try and stock up for a lifetime as I can't afford to do so and don't want to risk a lifetime of frozen film and paper to a 3-day power failure or something like that (three days of diesel generator backup? no, No, NO). Sure, I stock up on a few pro packs now and then but I can shoot a pro pack of 120 in an afternoon easily.

If you stock film in your freezer, and you have a power 3-day power failure, you just eat very fast what was in the freezer (that's good to eat if you don't re-freeze it) and you just re-freeze your film when the power is resumed. AFAIK you can freeze, defreeze and re-freeze film as many times as you want.

People who buys bulk rolls sometimes defreeze the bulk roll, wait some hours, roll their owns, and then re-freeze the bulk roll.

 

[Diapositivo]

I think the bad news is:

Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group first-quarter sales were $367 million, a 14% decline from the year-ago quarter, driven by continuing industry-related declines. First-quarter loss from operations for the segment was $15 million, compared with earnings of $22 million in the year-ago period. This decrease in earnings was primarily driven by significantly increased raw material costs, particularly silver, and industry-related declines in volumes, partially offset by cost reductions across the segment.

In any case I wisk Kodak a very profitable future. If they are profitable in other segments, they can better care about the film segment, e.g. waiting for the film rebound, planning an advertising campaign for film, or planning a sale of technology and machinery to somebody willing to enter the market. If they are not profitable, film is going to suffer first.

In any case at the moment the $15m operating loss from film operation is small if compared to the $249m total operating loss for the quarter. It's not film which will make Kodak sink if ever. And it's not ditching film operations that will improve the situation much.

It is also to be noted that even if the operating profit is in red for the quarter, the bottom line is still positive ($55m or $0,21 per share) due to non-operation items. Most of those are probably non-recurring items, but it's better for Kodak to be profitable also for this quarter than not.

 

[michaelbsc]

I'm not going to try and stock up for a lifetime as I can't afford to do so and don't want to risk a lifetime of frozen film and paper to a 3-day power failure or something like that (three days of diesel generator backup? no, No, NO). Sure, I stock up on a few pro packs now and then but I can shoot a pro pack of 120 in an afternoon easily.

If you stock film in your freezer, and you have a power 3-day power failure, you just eat very fast what was in the freezer (that's good to eat if you don't re-freeze it) and you just re-freeze your film when the power is resumed. AFAIK you can freeze, defreeze and re-freeze film as many times as you want.

People who buys bulk rolls sometimes defreeze the bulk roll, wait some hours, roll their owns, and then re-freeze the bulk roll.

I think that freezing, thawing, then refreezing film several times is ok. But if it is not in sealed containers you run the risk of introducing ice into the film from the condensation during the thawing cycle.

I suspect the plastic sealed envelopes that major film brands use for 120 film are a good moisture barrier. And I suspect the plastic 35mm canisters are adequate.

Can anyone give definitive advice about sheet film and film wrapped in paper?

 

[Focus No. 9]

Like the film hate the company. I expect Kodak to rape us once again and introduce a 16exp. roll for the price of a 24.

 

[Sirius Glass]

+1 on the comments about thawing and refreezing.

Steve

 

[Ian C]

Freezing & Thawing Film

With regard to post #34,

“Can anyone give definitive advice about sheet film and film wrapped in paper?”

I place sheet film boxes inside of vapor-proof sealed plastic bagging before putting the film into the freezer. When I remove it, I allow sufficient time for the film to warm until it’s close to room temperature before opening it. That prevents condensation.

This can also be done with 120 and 35mm films if removed from their original vapor-proof packaging.

The only effect I’ve noticed from freezing is that the magenta osmium dye of T-Max film seems to become more tenacious. I practice 2-bath fixing with these films and the 2nd bath of relatively fresh full strength Kodak Fixer leaves my negatives colorless without a hint of magenta.

All my films: B&W, color negative, and color transparency, are frozen upon purchase and only thawed as needed. Whatever doesn’t get shot gets repacked in the VP plastic and refrozen until the night before I plan on using it.

Some films have been frozen and thawed multiple times before finally using. I’ve always used films at the box speed (or best EI) with normal results. Some films have been used up to 20 years after expiration date. I rarely use films faster than ASA 160, so my films don’t appear to gain any base fog with long-term storage.

 

[hpulley]

OK, back to my real reason then. I don't feel like spending that much at one time trying to stock up for a lifetime. I will continue to hope that I'll be able to shoot film for the next 35 years by being able to buy film every year. Crazy? Perhaps. I hope not.

 

[Sirius Glass]

h,

I stock up enough for my needs for the next few months. However when I see that an emulsion that I like will be discontinued, I buy up and store what I can find and what I can afford.

Steve