Iridium Report Net Income of US$ 23 million in 4Q 2014
Mclean, Va., Feb. 26, 2015--Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2014 and issued its full-year 2015 and long-range outlook. Net income was US$ 23.0 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2014, as compared to US$ 15.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2013.
Operational EBITDA for the fourth quarter was US$ 51.8 million, as compared to US$ 49.8 million for the prior-year period, representing a year-over-year increase of 4 percent and an OEBITDA margin of 52 percent. OEBITDA grew largely due to higher service revenue.
Iridium reported fourth-quarter total revenue of US$ 100.5 million, which consisted of US$ 78.2 million of service revenue and US$ 22.3 million of equipment, engineering and support revenue. Total revenue increased 2 percent versus the comparable period of 2013, while service revenue also grew 2 percent from the year-ago period. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, was 78 percent of total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014.
The company ended the quarter with 739,000 total billable subscribers, which compares to 664,000 for the year-ago period and is up from 726,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2014. Total billable subscribers grew 11 percent year-over-year, driven by strength in machine-to-machine ("M2M") and commercial voice customers.
"2014 was a strong year for Iridium, as we achieved many of our strategic objectives and exceeded our financial targets," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. "We reached significant milestones in the Iridium NEXT program including successful qualification of most hardware components, testing our satellite platform software and completing the upgrade of our ground infrastructure around the world. We also successfully amended our credit facility and completed the related capital raise, strengthening our funding profile and giving us the needed flexibility to execute our operating plan. Our commercial M2M business grew service revenue and subscribers 19%, while our maritime business also performed well, with Iridium OpenPort® revenue expanding 12% year-over-year. These are all important steps as we look ahead to 2018 and the transformational change we expect in our cash flow profile."
Desch continued, "As we assess our prospects in 2015, we're excited to be entering the launch phase for our next-generation constellation. Our Iridium NEXT build remains on budget, and we have reconfirmed with our suppliers that the system is on track to be fully deployed in 2017. However, we've moved our first planned launch from June 2015 to October 2015, as our partner, Thales Alenia Space, needs the additional time to fully test the payload software before flight."
Desch concluded, "When evaluating our 2015 financial outlook, we expect continued solid growth in our M2M, maritime and aviation business lines, but see pressure in our legacy voice business. We believe a strong dollar has softened handset sales in many places outside the U.S. in the last few months. Our long-range guidance remains unchanged, as future contributions from our U.S. Government business, the value of our Aireon joint venture, new products and the potential of Iridium NEXT broadband services all support a healthy service revenue trajectory. Overall, we have excellent long-term growth prospects and expect to execute against the key targets that ensure our success."
Related Articles:
