The big news is that Bridger reported in its 2023 annual report that it has a “primary competition.” Bridger disclosed “our primary competition is a private aerial firefighting operator that currently manages four CL-415s [aka super scoopers], three Type II Dash 8-400ATs [aka land-based air tankers] and seven Avro RJ85s [aka land-based air tankers], which are designed to drop fire retardant.”
While the name of the competitor was not mentioned, list of the aircraft owned suggests that the competitor is Aeroflite Inc. Aeroflite is a private company so financial information about it is confidential. The good news is that Aeroflite has about the same number of employees as Bridger and has been around for 50 years, so it must be possible for a well-structured and well-managed aerial firefighting company’s to make a profit and survive.
Compensation of Bridger’s Management and Directors
As a “smaller reporting company” SEC rules require that Bridger report 2023 annual compensation for Bridger’s principal executive officer and its two (2) other most highly compensated executive officers.. Those rules do not require the reporting of the annual compensation of the other executive officers.
According to the Proxy Statement for its 2024 annual meeting, Bridger reported that the “total compensation” for 2023 of just those three officers was $47 million dollars. That number is about 60 percent of the $77 million net loss the company experienced in 2023. The directors had a “total compensation” for 2023 of about $15 million. That number is about 19 percent of the net loss the company experienced in 2023. So, just those numbers comprise about 79 percent of the 2023 net loss.
In April 2024, both of the company’s founders, Tim Sheehy and his brother Matt, turned back into the company restricted stock units. Tim Sheehy restricted stock units having a value of about $18 million and Matt turned by restricted stock units having a value of about $12 million. A consequece of those actions is avoidance of further dilution of the company’s common stock.
Tim’s “total realized compensation” for 2023 was about $2.5 million, down from about $4.9 million in 2022. Maybe that is what he meant when he said “I’m a business owner. If my business isn’t doing well, I don’t get paid. My employees do, but I don’t.”
Another Sale of Common Stock
To generated needed cash, Bridger recently sold another 2,183,366 shares of common stock at record low prices, thereby again diluting the ownership of existing shareholders. The gross proceeds to the Company from the offering was expected to be approximately $9.8 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Registered Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Bridger’s Financial Situation Still Tenous
Here is how a stock analyst as Seeking Aplha described Bridger’s financial situation:
“Given the risks, the unpredictability of sales, and the expected slowdown in revenue growth as the company has already received all its ordered airplanes, I prefer to see the company generating positive cash flow before investing in it. Moreover, despite its solid competitive advantages and high barriers to entry, the lack of profitability, alongside a high debt and a complex capital structure, threatens common stockholders’ return in the following years. Consequently, I’ll pass on this investment opportunity.”