PHOTO BOMB

Kodak Warns It May Not Survive as $500M Debt Looms

With scant cash on hand, the photographic giant flags a “going concern” risk, sending its shares tumbling.

Eastman Kodak, the 133-year-old camera pioneer, says its future is in doubt—and it could snap altogether in the coming year. The company informed investors in an earnings filing Tuesday that it lacks the money to cover approximately $500 million in debt due within the next year, raising the specter of a potential shutdown, according to CNN. “These conditions raise substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Kodak said. Shares plunged in early trading after the disclosure, and Kodak’s cash pile—$155 million as of June 30, with $70 million in the U.S.—offers only a thin cushion against the impending obligations, reports the outlet. The company has been unwinding pension liabilities and slashing costs while betting on commercial and packaging printing to replace its long-faded film dominance after a 2012 bankruptcy. At its 1970s peak, the company controlled about 90 percent of U.S. film and 85 percent of camera sales, the report quoted The Economist as saying. A spokesperson for Kodak told the Daily Beast: “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.”