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Eutelsat Reports H1 2006-07 Results |
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PARIS, Feb. 19, 2007/Satnews Daily/ ― Eutelsat Communications (ISIN: FR0010221234 - Euronext Paris: ETL) reported increases in revenues, income and other operating parameters for the first half of its financial year ended December 31, 2006.
Eutelsat saw a 5.2% revenue growth to $545.5 million (EUR 415.3 million) over the same period in 2005, driven by an expansion in video applications that now account for 70 percent of company revenues.
The group was profitable once again with consolidated net income rising to $104.95 million (EUR 79.9 million) against a net loss of $27.9 million (EUR 21.2 million) for the same period in 2005. EBITDA stood at 74.9 percent. The company also reported strong developments in emerging markets.
Eutelsat confirmed its revenue target of $1.05 billion (EUR 800 million) for the full year 2006-2007, or an increase of 4.5 percent. It expects this rate of growth in 2007-2008 and 2008-2009.
Eutelsat said its strength in video applications sprang from the entry into service of the Hot Bird 7A satellite in April 2006; the ongoing expansion of pay-TV platforms in the Group’s priority areas of development and the strengthening of its Hot Bird fleet with the entry into service of Hot Bird 8 and Atlantic Bird 4.
Eutelsat Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Giuliano Barretta said the company’s solid performance for the first half-year shows the dynamic of the full set of digital markets addressed by its satellites.
“We have actively pursued growth of video applications within the framework of our objective to maximize revenue yield per transponder,” he said.
He added that the successful launch of Hot Bird 7A and 8 also enabled the company to consolidate its key video markets that hit 1,000 digital channels addressing 121 million satellite and cable homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East in 2006.
The group is also pursuing the development of broadband services for regions not served by terrestrial infrastructure, while the introduction of in-flight broadband for business aviation passengers has fuelled further diversification of the portfolio of value-added services, said Barretta.
In 2006 the 2,429 channels broadcast by Eutelsat’s satellites were received by 164 million satellite and cable homes. Hot Bird broadcasts to 1,082 channels in Europe and to over 121 million homes (of which 47.5 million are Direct-to-Home).
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