Announcing Q4 and year-end results for 2024, chairman and CEO Jim Continenza said the business was focused on executing its long-term plan.
“In spite of all the obstacles that continue in the world, between war, supply issues, inflation, shipping, logistics and just the day-to-day turmoil in 2024, we continue to invest in innovation,” he stated.
In 2024 overall sales at the business were down 7% at $1.043bn (£802m), while operational EBITDA fell by 42% to $26m.
Gross margins were maintained at 19%, despite the headwinds.
Kodak said the decrease in operational EBITDA was primarily driven by lower volumes and higher manufacturing costs, inventory adjustments, as well as costs associated with investments in IT systems and its organisational structure “to drive further operational efficiencies”, along with $2m in costs associated with exhibiting at Drupa, and $7m for certain litigation matters.
This includes Fujifilm’s claim that Kodak’s Sonora plates infringe its patents.
Kodak’s filing stated: “These matters are in various stages of investigation and litigation and are being vigorously defended.”
Sales at Kodak’s Print division were down $91m at $737m, while the unit posted an $8m operational EBITDA loss compared with a $20m profit by the same measure the prior year.
The Advanced Materials & Chemicals wing – a key area for investment with a new pharma products facility set to go into production this year and a rebuild of its film production capacity – saw sales increase by $16m to $271m, with EBITDA at that unit increasing by $7m to $17m.
Brand sales increased from $17m to $20m, with operational EBITDA up at $17m (2023: $15m).
Continenza said the implementation of steep tariffs in the US on imported printing plates from China and Japan had “established a level playing field”.
Kodak is the last man standing in domestic printing plate manufacturing in the US.
“That’s all we were asking for in the plate business in the United States. This is a big win for US manufacturing, and again sets a level playing field when other governments are interfering and subsidising other companies and giving them an advantage inside the US,” he said.
“This is good for the United States workers, good for our printers, and good for America in general.”
The outcome on trading regarding President Trump’s recently-announced trade tariffs is less clear.
“There is significant uncertainty about the future relationship between the US and other countries impacted by such trade policies and tariffs,” Kodak noted.
Continenza said the Prosper 7000 Turbo high-speed inkjet press, recently showcased at Hunkeler Innovationdays, and the Ultrastream 520, have now moved from controlled introduction to controlled production “and we’ll be releasing it commercially to various printers”.
In a first for Kodak, printers can also upgrade Prosper 6000 presses to 7000 spec, resulting in a speed increase of up to 35% “for minimal cost of investment”.
Kodak’s board of directors has approved plans to terminate the Kodak Retirement Income Plan on 31 March. Surplus assets will be sold, and pension scheme members will not be affected.
A possible windfall of up to $585m would be used to pay down debt and accelerate Kodak's turnaround strategy and investments in growth businesses.
The results were announced yesterday evening. Kodak’s share price has gone up 6.65% over the past week, and was at $6.98 at the time of writing (52-week high: $8.24, low: $4.26).
Separately, Kodak has announced the full-scale commercialisation and wide availability of the Sonora Ultra process-free plate in Europe, following a successful testing programme.
The plate is made at Kodak’s plant in Osterode, Germany.
Kodak said Sonora Ultra offered numerous performance advantages on the Sonora XTRA-3 plate, including stronger image contrast, better white light exposure tolerance, and image stability of up to six weeks when stored in the dark.
