Satnews Daily
February 20th, 2012

SES... Financially Speaking... (Business)


[SatNews] SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) has reported its financial results for the 12 months to December 31, 2011. The financial highlights include...

  • Revenue of EUR 1,733.1 million (-0.1 percent)
  • Recurring1 revenue grew 2.8 percent to EUR 1,735.0 million EBITDA of EUR 1,274.6 million (-1.7 percent)
  • Recurring EBITDA grew 3.1 percent to EUR 1,294.5 million
  • Recurring EBITDA margin of 74.6 percent
  • Operating Profit of EUR 808.2 million (+1.4 percent)
  • Profit of the group of EUR 617.7 million (+26.8 percent)
  • EPS per A-share EUR 1.56 (2010: EUR 1.24)
  • Dividend of EUR 0.88 per A-share proposed
  • Contract Backlog up 6.1 percent to EUR 7 billion, reflecting EUR 2 billion of renewals and new business signed during the year
  • Net Debt / EBITDA ratio of 3.12

Romain Bausch, President and CEO, said, “SES’ results for 2011 demonstrate the core resilience of our operating business. Revenue for the year was on target, despite the challenge of launch delays. Group profit grew by 26.8 percent year on year. In a busy second half, SES successfully launched four satellites. QuetzSat-1, a satellite wholly contracted by EchoStar, entered service in November, while the other new satellites carry mainly replacement capacity.

“SES’ organisational realignment was implemented during 2011. It is delivering real benefits, including enhanced focus on our key markets. Seven further satellites are being built and are due to be launched before the end of 2014. The majority of the new capacity will be serving customers in emerging markets. SES’ high quality orbital positions and footprints are laying down the foundation for future growth. “2012 is an important year in the ongoing transformation of SES.

"We are developing our presence in emerging markets, while maintaining our strong position in the more mature European and North American markets. In 2012 we will experience the exceptional impact of the analogue TV switch-off in Germany. When eliminating the impact of this, we foresee an 1 ”Recurring” is a measure designed to represent underlying revenue / EBITDA performance by removing currency exchange effects, eliminating one-time items, considering changes in consolidation scope and excluding revenue / EBITDA from new business initiatives that are still in the start-up phase. 2 underlying three year revenue CAGR (2012-2014) of approximately 7.5 percent. On a recurring basis this is expected to be approximately 4.5 percent. This fully reflects the launch delays and satellite health issues. We look to the future with confidence.” To read the entire financial report, access this PDF download link.