SES reports 2.1% drop in revenue to US$568.12 million
Betzdorf, Luxembourg, May 17, 2013 — SES S.A. has posted revenues of US$568.12 million (€440.8 million) for its latest quarterly results, down 2.1 percent year-on-year. EBITDA for the three months ended March 31 reached US$414.00 million (€321.2 million), down 4.8 percent.
SES said the impact of the German analogue switch-off at the end of April 2012 has ruined the latest quarterly results. Excluding the expected German analogue revenues, SES revealed that taking into consideration steady foreign exchange rates, revenue would have grown 5.7 percent and EBITDA by 5.5 percent. Infrastructure EBITDA margin was stable at 83.7 percent despite what was happening in Germany.
Romain Bausch, President and CEO, said the impact of the German analogue switch-off at the end of April 2012 was, as expected, the major factor influencing the comparison with the prior year period.
“Excluding this, revenue and EBITDA grew strongly and the EBITDA margin remained stable. New capacity contracts and a good performance from HD+ made a solid contribution to revenue and EBITDA. The EBITDA margin on infrastructure, the core of our business, was robust at 83.7 percent.”
He said that at the end of the quarter, SES launched an inaugural US dollar bond issue, a transaction which was very well received in the market. He reiterated the company’s 2013 revenue and EBITDA growth guidance of 4 - 5 percent.
“SES continues to focus on commercializing the new capacity that was launched during 2012 and on preparing the successful entry into service of the four satellites scheduled for launch in 2013,” Bausch said.
First quarter Group EBITDA of US$414.00 million (€321.2 million) was 4.5 percent lower than in the prior year period on a constant FX basis, although excluding the German analogue impact, EBITDA increased by 5.5 percent. The reported group EBITDA margin declined from 74.9 percent to 72.9 percent, due to the loss of the US$41.24 million (€32 million) of analogue revenues. SES said that when excluding this impact, the group EBITDA margin of 72.9 percent would have been stable compared to the prior year period.
SES said the infrastructure segment maintained its robust margin of 83.7 percent (Q1 2012: 83.8 percent), while the timing of recognition of certain costs in the services segment resulted in a decline in the services margin to 12.8 percent (Q1 2012: 14.6 percent). The services segment margin is nevertheless expected to be within the guidance range of 14-18 percent for the full year 2013.
The charge for depreciation and amortisation was US$3.61 million (€2.8 million) lower compared to the corresponding period of 2012, mainly reflecting the impairment charge of EUR 3.0 million taken in 2012 related to circuit failures on the AMC-16 satellite.
Net financing charges of US$38.02 million (€29.5 million) were US$7.73 million (€6.0 million) lower than in the prior year period. A reduction in net interest expense reflected lower financing rates, with the group’s weighted direct cost of debt standing at 4.1 percent at the end of Q1 2013 (Q1 2012: 4.6 percent).
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