SES financials hit by prior year Eutelsat boost and Echostar renewal terms

Satellite operator SES saw a year-on-drop in revenue and EBITFA in the quarter to March at constant exchange rates thanks to the prior year impact of the sale of capacity to Eutelsat and the terms of its AMC-15/16 capacity renewal agreements with EchoStar in advance of next year’s launch of SES-11.

The Luxembourg-based operator posted revenues of €477.8 million, up 2.6% year-on-year but down 4.9% at constant exchange rates. EBITDA was up 3.2%, but down 4.6% at constant exchange rates to €356.1 million.

“SES has made a productive start to 2015. We are continuing to build the foundations of our future growth through new investments, expanding our capabilities and increasing our technical reach across the globe. Our video business continues to grow. This is measurable in terms of the number of HD channels carried and the level of households and population reached by our global fleet, which is particularly pronounced in emerging markets where SES is successfully expanding its presence,” said Karim Michel Sabbagh, president and CEO.

“The revenue and EBITDA comparison is impacted by the sale of transponders to Eutelsat recorded in Q1 2014 and by the terms of the AMC-15/-16 capacity renewal agreements with EchoStar in advance of the launch of SES-11 at the end of 2016. Taking these factors into account, Q1 2015 revenue at constant FX was in line with the prior year period. Looking forward, we continue to develop our competitive position in video and are building our capabilities to

meet the requirements of next generation data. The addition of HTS capacity on SES-14 and SES-15 will – along with SES-12 – allow us to provide more flexible and efficient fixed/mobile data solutions on a global scale. Our commitment to innovation has also enabled us to secure multi-year agreements for two U.S. Government funded

hosted payloads. We remain focused on improving our procurement process and delivering CapEx efficiencies, with the overriding objective of serving our customers by having the right assets, in the right place and at the right time.”