I am a Sealaska Corporation shareholder. I graduated from Ketchikan High School. I have a bachelor of arts in business finance and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University. I am concerned with Sealaska’s operating performance. I served on the Sealaska Board of Directors and as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
This letter addresses Sealaska’s operational profits and losses. The line item “Loss from Continuing Operations before Natural Resources Revenue Sharing and Income Taxes” in the annual report is the focus of this letter. The “operating” loss amounts for 2015-2011 in the annual reports are respectively $11,394,000, $9,661,000, $56,668,000, $5,334,000 and $16,102,000. The total loss is $99,227,000 for the five years and includes $11,170,000 of “other” operating losses. These losses result from the board’s policy oversight and direction failure for management.
The losses point out the board’s and management’s failure in their fiduciary duties for the shareholders. The shareholders must hold the board members accountable for operational losses. Sealaska reported revenues of $866,364,000 and total costs and expenses of $954,421,000. The $99,227,000 operating loss demonstrates Sealaska’s failure to perform.
Losses per share from continuing operations for the five-year period are as follows: $5.45, $4.29, $24.78, $2.41 and $8.45. A shareholder owning 100 shares of common stock in 2015 has lost $545 of corporate value.
Operating revenue is derived from sources related to a company’s everyday business operations. Total 7i & 7j revenue for the five-year period is $112,325,000. 7i & 7j Revenue is not Sealaska operating revenue and should not be included as “Operating Revenue”. 7i & 7j Revenue is received from other Native Corporations required by ANCSA. Without 7i & 7j revenue, Sealaska is not profitable!
The operating loss of $99,227,000 is 106 percent of the original ANCSA Settlement of $93,200,000. This loss is $6,027,000 more than the ANCSA funds received!
I encourage Sealaska shareholders to vote for the Independent candidates to change the Board of Directors and to stop the losses.
Thank you for this opportunity to reach out to Sealaska’s shareholders.
Sincerely,
Jim Edenso
Hansville, Washington