spacetoday.net: SPACEHAB records loss due to Columbia

Posted: Fri, May 9, 2003, 8:51 AM ET (1251 GMT)
SPACEHAB recorded a loss in its fiscal third quarter primarily because of the loss of a research module on the shuttle Columbia. SPACEHAB reported a net loss of $62.7 million for the quarter ending March 31 on revenues of $26.4 million. The company said that it took a $50.3 million charge in the quarter to cover the destruction of its Research Double Module, which was on Columbia. As only a fraction of the book value of the module was covered by commercial insurance, company officials said they had filed an indemnification claim with NASA with hopes of recovering the full value of the module in the future. the company also recorded a $11.9 million charge for "goodwill impairment" dealing with the value of its Johnson Engineering (now SPACEHAB Government Services) subsidiary. Excluding those losses SPACEHAB would have lost only $0.5 million in the quarter. The company reported a profit of $66,000 in the same quarter of 2002.