Satellite operator SES has reported €978 million in H2 revenues, down 0.6 per cent y-o-y. 2024 revenue outlook (of €1.94 billion – €2 billion) remains unchanged. CEO Adel Al-Saleh said that the company’s acquisition of Intelsat is “on track” and remains due to close later next year.
“The entry of O3b mPOWER into commercial service in April was a key milestone for SES with committed customers now being deployed onto the system. We remain on track to expand the initial constellation starting with the next launch of satellites 7-8 at the end of this year, followed in 2025 with satellites 9-11 and 2026 with satellites 12-13, accelerating our profitable long-term growth trajectory,” Al-Saleh stated. “With the launch of ASTRA 1P to 19.2E in June, we are leveraging the latest technological innovation to sustain our most important cash-generative media neighborhood for the long-term, while simultaneously capturing significant CapEx efficiencies.”
Video revenues, however, continue to be under pressure. Video (46 per cent of total revenues) revenue of €453 million represented a reduction of -6.7 per cent compared with H1 2023, mainly driven by lower revenue in mature markets which were partially offset by double-digit year on year growth in Sports & Events revenue. In H1 2024, the business secured more than €120 million of renewals and new business.
Contract backlog on June 30th 2024 was €3.8 billion (€4.7 billion gross backlog including backlog with contractual break clauses), of which Media backlog was €1.9 billion and Networks backlog was €1.9 billion.
Al-Saleh explained that on a pro forma basis, the combined company is expected to deliver a mid-single digit compound average growth rate (CAGR) in Adjusted EBITDA (for the period 2024E-2028E) from the combination of revenue growth (with approximately 60 per cent of 2023 pro forma revenue coming from growing government, mobility, and fixed data segments) and the realization of the operating expense synergies.
