Vertical remains ‘on track’ despite £19m loss in Q3
Vertical Aerospace has confirmed is capital plan for 2022 and progress on certification remains on track, despite posting a £19m loss in the third quarter (Q3).
Losses have more than doubled compared to Q3 2021 (£8m) as the company continues to make progress on certification. The quarter saw the UK CAA issue a Permit to Fly for the VX4 and the full-scale prototype lift from the ground under tethered conditions.
Vertical reported a net operating loss of £39m for the first half (H1) 2022, bringing total losses for the year to £58m.
The firm finished Q3 with cash in the bank and short-term deposits totalling £145m. Vertical said this will be invested in the “development of the company’s test and certification activities and in the people, systems and processes”.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Vertical, founder and CEO, said: “We recently celebrated ‘wheels up’ with our VX4 aircraft a few weeks ago which was an incredibly proud moment for the whole team. As we ramp up our flight test programme, with a close eye on capital spend, we are moving onwards and upwards. I look forward to sharing more news about our flight test programme in the coming months.”
In August, Vertical set up an equity subscription line with Nomura, which will allow the firm to issue up to £80.9m ($100m) in new ordinary shares.
At the quarter’s end, Vertical had issued 1,103,863 ordinary shares using the equity subscription line for an aggregate gross purchase price of £7.2m ($8.9m), and up to £73.7m ($91.1m) in aggregate gross purchase price of ordinary shares remained available for sale.
