Eutelsat Communications today reported revenues for the Third Quarter and Nine Months ended 31 March 2020. Total revenues for the Third Quarter 2019-20 stood at €322.0 million, down 4.4% year-on-year while revenues for the five Operating Verticals (ie, excluding ‘Other Revenues’) were down by 0.5% on a reported basis and by 1.6% on a like-for-like basis, excluding a positive currency effect of circa 1.1 points. 

Earlier this year, the company reported it generated Euro 48.9 million from sales of its satellite services in Africa for the First Half of 2019/2020 fiscal year. The latest report shows the company keep expanding its business operations in Africa. 

Rodolphe Belmer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Third Quarter revenues were in line with our expectations, and confirmed the underlying improvement in Operating Verticals trends. In particular, Broadcast was highly resilient with stable revenues year-on-year and return to quarter-on-quarter growth with ongoing signs of commercial dynamism in emerging markets with a new DTH platform in Sub-Saharan Africa and the extension of a contract in the Balkans. Other commercial highlights include a solid Spring Renewal campaign with the US Government, a multi-year contract with Telenor Maritime in Mobile Connectivity, and for Konnect Africa, an MoU to connect several thousand schools across the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Faced with the unprecedented constraints of the Covid-19 crisis, our focus is on the health and well-being of our employees and ensuring business continuity for our customers at a time when demand for reliable connectivity has never been higher. Our business is resilient compared with many industries, in particular our core Broadcast vertical. As a result, we expect the impact on Full Year revenues to be limited, reflecting mainly the effects of confinement on Mobility, Professional Video and to a lesser extent Fixed Broadband. As we continue to assess the effects on future years, we do so with the confidence that our strong financial position and cash-flow generation capacity, together with our combination of resilient heritage activities and connectivity-related growth opportunities will ensure we are well-positioned to withstand challenges of the current environment.”

The report, available here highlights continued underlying improvement in Operating Verticals revenues trends, with Third Quarter decline of -1.6% after -3.7% in the Second Quarter and -6.2% in the First. Revenues were up 1.2% quarter-on-quarter;

• Resilient Broadcast with stable revenues year-on-year and return to quarter-on-quarter growth; ongoing signs of commercial dynamism in emerging markets with a new DTH platform in Sub-Saharan Africa and the extension of a contract in the Balkans;
• Commercial win in Maritime Mobility with a multi-year contract with Telenor Maritime highlighting the unparalleled coverage of Eutelsat’s fleet;
• Konnect Africa MoU with Schoolap and Flash Services to connect several thousand schools across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with scope to strongly expand in coming years, highlighting the opportunity represented by government-backed digital inclusion programmes.
• The solid outcome of Spring Renewal campaign with the US Government with a renewal rate above 85%
• Operating Vertical revenues for the First Nine Months down -3.8%, in line with expectations and permitting the confirmation of updated financial objectives;
• Well-positioned to face Covid-19 crisis thanks to relative resilience of businesses, substantial backlog, strong financial position and high level of cash-generation.

On the commercial front of the broadcast services which contributed 62% of the revenue, activity remained dynamic with the addition of a new platform in Sub-Saharan Africa – Ghana RCS at 7°East – as well as the renewal and expansion of business in the Western Balkans at the 16°East orbital position. During the quarter, EUTELSAT 7C entered into service, bringing 19 incremental transponders to the African market which are expected to gradually ramp-up; elsewhere EUTELSAT 5 WEST B entered into service, replacing EUTELSAT 5 West A.

Read: OneWeb And Sky & Space Failure – The Effect On Satellite Broadband Connectivity In Africa