SatNews

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SES… Financially Speaking…

[SatNews] SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) has reported financial results for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2011.

  • YTD reported revenue of EUR 1,281.5 million
    • YTD recurring1 revenue rose 3.0% to EUR 1,283.4 million
    • YTD recurring EBITDA increased 3.7% to EUR 965.3 million
    • Recurring EBITDA margin of 75.2%
  • YTD Profit of the Group ahead 34.3% to EUR 446.7 million
  • Net debt/EBITDA was 3.13x at the period end
  • Contract backlog increased to EUR 7.1 billion, up 9% since end 2010
    • EUR 1.6 billion of renewals and new business signed YTD
  • Four satellites successfully launched during the quarter
  • Strategic partnership with Gazprom Space Services for the Russian market
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Romain Bausch, President and CEO, said, “In the third quarter, SES successfully launched four new satellites, an industry record. The launch of ASTRA 1N, SES-2 and SES-3 delivered replacement capacity, while QuetzSat-1 added new capacity to the fleet wholly contracted by EchoStar for DTH services in the Americas. SES-4 is now scheduled for launch in December, whereas the SES-5 launch will move into 2012. SES also made progress in developing its Central and Eastern European business, concluding an important strategic partnership with Russian operator Gazprom Space Services (using ASTRA 1F satellite capacity), and signing a new DTH platform, Magticom, for Georgia. The financial results for the first nine months are in line with the 2011 revenue and EBITDA growth guidance. The delay to the QuetzSat-1 and SES-4 launches will reduce the revenue growth in the fourth quarter, while the satellite programme economics remain unaffected by the launch delays and will continue to support our primary strategic objective of long term value creation. For the full year, SES is in line to achieve the revenue and EBITDA growth guidance of approximately 3%, apart from the revenue shortfall of EUR 10 million (and the associated EBITDA) directly resulting from the launch delays. Once again, SES has demonstrated the resilience of the FSS satellite sector to the economic downturn.” To read the entire financial report, select this PDF download link.