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May 18th, 2011

ViaSat... Financially Speaking + Important Linkages (Satellite)



Artistic rendition of ViaSat-1 satellite
[SatNews] ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011.

The fiscal fourth quarter results include new contract awards of $271.0 million, revenues of $216.4 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $42.8 million, net income attributable to ViaSat common stockholders of $0.41 per share on a diluted non-GAAP basis or $0.28 per share on a diluted GAAP basis, and cash flows from operations of $46.3 million. Financial highlights for the fiscal year include new contract awards of $853.5 million, revenues of $802.2 million, Adjusted EBITDA of $160.8 million, net income attributable to ViaSat common stockholders of $1.39 per share on a diluted non-GAAP basis or $0.84 per share on a diluted GAAP basis, and cash flows from operations of $169.6 million. "While fiscal year 2011 was a challenging year, the company set new records in several key financial metrics including new contract awards, revenues, operating income, and EBITDA," said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat CEO and chairman. "Despite significant headwinds due to a difficult defense budget environment, and anticipated capacity constraints for broadband network services — we ended the year on a strong note. Defense backlog is at a record high, driven by significant wins in satellite networks for airborne broadband ISR and situational awareness. We've won strategic new commercial satellite network projects — including in-flight WiFi broadband for JetBlue Airways and its LiveTV subsidiary. And, of course, the upcoming launch of ViaSat-1 represents the culmination of over three years of investments and preparation to capitalize on industry leading breakthroughs in satellite bandwidth efficiency. We believe these factors set the stage for sustained growth in each of our business segments." To read the entire financial report, use this direct link.

The Company has also received a contract with a value in the range of $40 million to provide Ka-band transmit-receive (T/R) modules to Thales Alenia Space for the Iridium NEXT satellite constellation. Thales Alenia is building the next set of 66 Iridium low-Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. Thales Alenia plans to integrate the T/R modules to build cross links between satellites and feeder links to earth terminals to facilitate point-to-point routing of data over the network. Iridium NEXT, the second-generation Iridium satellite constellation, is expected to extend the world's furthest reaching mobile voice and data communications network to 2030 and beyond. Iridium NEXT is scheduled to begin launching in 2015. The new network will maintain the Iridium constellation architecture of 66 cross-linked LEO satellites covering 100 percent of the globe. Iridium NEXT satellites are designed to meet the rapidly expanding demand for global communications connections that matter.