For the three month period ended September 30, 2011, Telesat reported consolidated revenue of $200 million, a decrease of approximately 4 percent ($9 million) compared to the same period in 2010. When adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes over the period revenue decreased by less than 1% ($1 million) compared to the same period in 2010. Adjusted EBITDA1 for the third quarter of 2011 was $154 million, a decrease of 3 percent ($5 million) compared to the third quarter of 2010 and an increase of 1 percent ($2 million) when adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes. The Adjusted EBITDA margin1 for the third quarter was 77 percent compared to 76 percent in the 2010 period.
Telesat’s net loss for the quarter was $141 million compared to net income of $146 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010. The change is mainly due to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Telesat’s debt is primarily denominated in U.S. dollars and, at the end of the third quarter of 2011, the Canadian dollar weakened against the U.S. dollar, creating a non-cash foreign exchange loss of $249 million as compared to a non-cash gain on foreign exchange of $106 million at the end of Q3 2010 when the Canadian dollar had strengthened against the U.S. dollar. This was partly offset by a non-cash gain of $74 million on the fair value of financial instruments this quarter, as compared to a non-cash gain of $14 million during the same period last year and a $6 million reduction in interest expense also due to movements in foreign exchange.
For the nine month period ended September 30, 2011, consolidated revenue was $604 million, a decrease of approximately 2 percent ($10 million) compared to the same period in 2010. When adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes, revenue increased by 1 percent ($6 million) compared to the same period in 2010. Adjusted EBITDA was $466 million, an increase of 1 percent ($4 million) over the same period in 2010 and an increase of 4 percent ($16 million) when adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes. The Adjusted EBITDA margin was 77 percent and net loss was $5 million for the first nine months of 2011, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 75 percent and net income of $163 million in the prior period.
“The third quarter was another solid one for Telesat and I’m pleased with the growth in our Adjusted EBITDA and the expansion of our Adjusted EBITDA margin in the first nine months of the year,” commented Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “The ViaSat-1 satellite, of which Telesat owns the Canadian payload, was successfully launched last month. Our long term agreement with Xplornet to use ViaSat-1 will result in incremental revenue and EBITDA once the satellite enters commercial service, which we expect will take place toward the end of this year. Looking ahead, we are focused on achieving our full year 2011 objectives and on launching our Nimiq 6 and Anik G1 satellites next year.”
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