Eutelsat reports H1 sales up 4.6% to EUR 602.4 mln

Satellite operator Eutelsat reported revenues up 4.6 percent to EUR 602.4 million in its fiscal first half to 31 December 2011, compared with EUR 575.9 million in the year-earlier period. Revenues from video applications increased by 2.9 percent to EUR 403.3 million, data and value added services grew by 0.8 percent to EUR 117.8 million, and multi-usage service revenues rose by 29.9 percent to EUR 74.4 million. The group's capacity constraints were alleviated with the launch of the Atlantic Bird 7 and W3C satellites, which entered into service towards the end of the fiscal first half. Eutelsat raised its EBITDA by 3.4 percent to EUR 478.5 million, for a 79.4 percent EBITDA margin. Capital expenditure increased by 6.6 percent to EUR 241.8 million. Net profit fell by 10.1 percent to EUR 156.8 million in the period. The group is continuing to target revenues above EUR 1.235 million for fiscal 2011-2012, with growth accelerating in the next two years to deliver over 7 percent 3-year CAGR to 30 June 2014. EBITDA is expected to be above EUR 955 million in the current year, and the EBITDA margin over 77 percent for each fiscal year until June 2014.