Whilst the Eastman Kodak Company, the iconic printing and imaging company founded in 1880, is pushing back on reports that it may not be in business for that much longer, the company’s second quarter financial report, includes a statement citing ‘substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern’. This statement has sparked concerns about history repeating itself when Kodak was forced to file for bankruptcy protection in 2012, after struggling with increasing competition, continuing growth in digital photography and growing debt.
Following that bump in the road in 2012, the company wound up selling off many of its businesses and patents, while shutting down the camera manufacturing unit that first made it famous. It received approval for its plan to emerge from court oversight a year later. At the time, Kodak was looking to recreate itself as a new, much smaller company focused on commercial and packaging printing.
Wind forward 13 years and Kodak is now nearing completion on a manufacturing plant to create regulated pharmaceutical products. The company already makes unregulated key starting materials for pharmaceuticals. Production at the retrofitted facility is expected to start later this year.
Addressing the concerns raised in its second quarter financial report, Kodak said in a statement to ABC News earlier this week that it is ‘confident it will be able to pay off a significant portion of its term loan well before it becomes due, and amend, extend or refinance our remaining debt and/or preferred stock obligations’.
The term ‘going concern’ simply means that a business is expected to be able to fulfil all its financial obligations and continue operating as usual for the foreseeable future, or at least the next 12 months.
Kodak said in the financial report that its gross profit fell about 12%, or USD$7m, declining from USD$58m in the second quarter of 2024 to USD$51m in the second quarter of 2025, and that it had upcoming debt obligations that need to be fulfilled within the next year.
Kodak CFO David Bullwinkle, said: "For the second half of the year, we will continue to focus on reducing costs today and converting our investments into long-term growth,"
“Kodak is confident it will be able to pay off a significant portion of its term loan well before it becomes due, and amend, extend or refinance our remaining debt and/or preferred stock obligations.”
In spite of this statement, shares slid more than 25% in midday trading on the day of the report being announced.
Kodak's second quarter financial report statement can be found here
