Eutelstat: Satellite operator’s profits crash to earth as OneWeb delays hit revenues
Eutelstat Communications reported a dip in half-year profits after the French satellite firm slashed its annual guidance because newly merged OneWeb’s activities were running “behind schedule”.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at €365.6m (£312m) in the period up to 31 December, down 12.7 per cent year-on-year. Revenues levelled out at €572.6m, down by 0.2 per cent on a reported basis.
In the same period, operating income swung from a €151.2m profit to a €134.4m loss.
It completed a merger with OneWeb, the satellite-internet company saved from bankruptcy by Boris Johnson’s government through a £400m cash injection, in September.
Operating costs were €52.2m higher than the last fiscal year, reflecting the “impact of the consolidation of OneWeb.
Eva Berneke, Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat Communications, said the LEO activities of OneWeb were “progressing well, with 100 per cent of the consellation in place and a secured and growing backlog.”
But she added that “delays in the availability of the ground network have impacted revenues, with a mix more oriented towards the sale of user terminals affecting margins, leading us to adjust our expectations for full-year 2023/24.”
“We nevertheless remain confident in the prospects of OneWeb, and the potential of Eutelsat Group’s unique combined GEO-LEO offer and anticipate an acceleration in revenues in the coming months as the constellation achieves full global operational coverage of the ground network.”
Eutelstat now forecasts annual revenues in the range of €1.25bn to €1.3bn, compared with a prior €1.32bn to €1.42bn. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in at between €650m to €680m, down from €725m to €825m.