Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat has unveiled its Q3 results, which were much as expected. CFO Christophe Caudrelier — handling the presentation given Eva Berneke’s departure and the new CEO not due to start until June 1st — told analysts that Eutelsat needed a large injection of equity to enable much-needed loans to kick in.
The cash crunch is severe, and the satellite operator needs some €4.7 billion to finance the build-out of its OneWeb fleet and to fund its involvement in the European IRIS2 multi-satellite scheme, where Eutelsat is a key player.
It emerged that Eutelsat has already ordered 100 OneWeb satellites and will need another 340 in order to maintain the fleet until about 2031 — and at a cost of some €2.2 billion. Then, at much the same time, Eutelsat has to find another €2 billion for its participation in IRIS2 and the scheme’s low Earth orbiting portion of the planned fleet.
“Our financing plan clearly looking for capital investors. It’s too early to disclose any type of range, but I can say it’s a significant amount,” Caudrelier said.
There have been widespread rumors that France Telecom and/or Orange is considering an investment in Eutelsat. Jean-François Fallacher, Eutelsat’s incoming CEO, is a former CEO at Orange France.
As to Eutelsat’s Q3 numbers, the operator confirmed that it had ceased transmitting TV channels to Russia. Caudrelier told investors there was a “single sizable contract” with the U.S. government that was not renewed. Aside from that one non-renewal, the renewable rate of U.S. government contracts was 70 per cent. Caudrelier said the non-renewal “reflects the change in the new presidential administration’s geographic prioritization for the U.S. Defense Department, with the additional context of efforts to cut government spending overall.”
Eutelsat booked €300 million in revenue in Q3 of its 2024-25 fiscal year, down 1.9 per cent year-over-year. Video saw the largest decline in the third quarter, down 6.4 per cent year-over-year to €152 million.
Eutelsat’s backlog also declined to €3.7 billion (from €3.9 billion a year ago).
