Connected home entertainment solutions provider Netgem's current operating profit for 2012 amounted to €12.3 million (-3% compared to 2011) (US$ 15.75 mil.) or 15% of full-year revenue of €81.2 million (-4% compared to 2011). Gross margin for 2012 amounted to €30.2 million (37% of revenue) as compared to €32.4 million in 2011 (38% of revenue).

Operating expenses decreased 9% to €17.9 million in 2012, compared to €19.8 million in 2011, while the number of active customers increased, reflecting the control over operational costs and risks without any impact on the R&D effort.

SES announced today that it has increased its reach in 2012, driven by strong gains, especially in India and Germany. SES now reaches 276 million TV homes worldwide, over 17 million homes more than in 2011.

 According to Euroconsult's newly released research report,Government Space Markets, World Prospects to 2022, government spending on space reached a peak in 2012 of $72.9 billion, a non-negligible increase compared to 2011 which followed two consecutive years of minimal growth. This upswing is attributed to increased activity of countries such as Russia, China, India and new world or regional leaders who compensated for budget uncertainties affecting North America and Europe. Euroconsult expects global government expenditures on space to decrease due to fiscal policies exerting continuous pressure on public finances; improvement is not expected before 2015.

The GVF-EMP Conference Partnership have today announced further details of the GVF Oil & Gas Communications Brazil Conference, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro over 16th and 17th April 2013 at the Windsor Plaza Hotel, Copacabana.

Inmarsat plc has reported a drop in its full year 2012 profit before income tax to US $293.6 million from US$366.9 million last year after revenues dried up from the ill-fated LightSquared plan to create a new mobile network in the US.

Profit to equity holders also decreased to US$217.1 million or $0.48 per share fromUS $249.3 million or US$0.54 per share last year. Adjusted profit per share was $0.60 compared to $0.53 prior year.

Pace plc, a global developer of technologies and products for PayTV and broadband service providers, has announced that revenues rose  4.1% to US$2,403.4 million in 2012 while earnings before interest, tax and amortization (EBITA) rose by 11.8% to US$158.1 million.

Pace said profit after tax was up 50.5% to $58.4 million compared to $38.8 million in 2011 while free cash flow in 2012 stood at $182.7 million. Company’s closing debt went down by 49.2% to $163.3 million compared to $321.7 million in 2011.

The number of pay TV homes in the Middle East and North Africa will double between 2011 and 2018 to 16.0 million, according to a new report from Digital TV  Research. The third edition of the Digital TV Middle East and North Africa report forecasts that fewer than 15% of TV households (analog and digital)  legitimately paid for TV signals by end-2012. This proportion will climb to 21.6% by 2018. 

Many readers of this edition will no doubt be thumbing the pages or scrolling a tablet screen at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Center (DICEC) at CABSAT 2013. Hoping that I’ve caught your attention earlier during CABSAT rather than later, I’d like to invite you to spend some time participating in the GVF MENASAT @ CABSAT Summit programs. The Summits, which are free to attend, take place in the Exhibition Center’s Meeting Room Hatta G & H, located above exhibition Hall 2, on March 13th & 14th.

For most satellite service providers and teleports, satellite capacity is the single largest Operating Expense (OPEX) cost item and is therefore key to their profitability. This is traditionally also one of the most difficult cost elements to manage, especially for service providers who provide data services for VSAT and trunking.

The launch of the first commercial communications satellite (Intelsat1, nicknamed “Early Bird”) on 06 April 1965, the commercial satellite industry has seen declining technology risks but still remains fraught with many business risks. It is a capital-intensive industry with high barriers to entry. An aspiring satellite operator faces the difficult decision of investing hundreds of millions of dollars up to three years before the satellite takes its flight and stabilizes in its orbital slot.