Long Blockchain says it expects wider net loss; will delay filing annual report

Long Blockchain Corp., which expects to report a wider net loss for 2017, said it will be late in filing its annual report.

The Farmingdale company said in a government filing after the market close Monday that it expects to report a net loss of about $14.9 million for the year ended Dec. 31, compared to a net loss of about $10.4 million in 2016.

Shares of Long Blockchain Wednesday fell 8.1 percent to close at $1.93. That followed a 9 percent drop on Tuesday. The stock's decline in recent months has paralleled a decline in the value of bitcoin, the most widely known cryptocurrency, from almost $20,000 in December to under $7,000 on Wednesday.

The company announced in December that it was changing its name from Long Island Iced Tea Corp. as it changes its business focus from ready-to-drink beverages to the application of blockchain technology, used in cryptocurrency transactions and other applications. A blockchain is a digital ledger distributed among many computers that records transactions.

The filing, signed by chief executive Shamyl Malik, said that Long Blockchain would not be able to file the annual report on time "without unreasonable effort and expense."