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SES satellite dishes are seen in an image provided by the company. Source: Business Wire 

SES

SES reported total revenue of €1.05bn for the first six months of the year, up 9.6% over the first half of 2016, the company announced on 28 July. However, when foreign exchange rates are harmonised and the new stakes in two firms, RR Media and O3b, are stripped out, revenue dropped by -1.5%.

Ebitda, a measure of operating income, was €687m, down -1.8% between the first halves of 2016 and 2017, or by -2.8% in adjusted terms.

At the same time, profit attributable to SES shareholders was €275m, up 21.2% from the same period last year. That was due to lower tax payments than previously expected. Earnings per share were €0.56, compared to €0.55 for the first half of 2016.

Karim Michel Sabbagh, the company’s president and CEO, stated in a press release issued on Friday:

“SES continues to make a positive start to 2017 and is well positioned to generate sustained growth and improving returns.

SES Video continues to deliver differentiated services and enhance the viewing experience, with the proportion of integrated solutions nearly doubling versus last year. The improving trend in Q2 2017 underpins our stable outlook for 2017 before the temporary impact of changes due to launch schedule and satellite health, which are expected to result in a slight decline.

SES Networks’ distributed network capabilities are driving strong growth across our data-centric verticals, expanding with global fixed data, aeronautical, maritime and government clients. The development agreement, signed today, with Boeing is the latest milestone in delivering next generation technology that will form the basis for SES’s future network and will expand the future addressable market.”

Intelsat

Rival satellite operator Intelsat reported, on 27 July, total revenue of $533m for the three months that ended on 30 June 2017, compared to $542m in the second quarter of 2016.

Ebitda was $407m for the second quarter of 2017, compared to $404m for the same period last year.

Intelsat posted a net loss of -$0.20 per share.

The company forecast “full-year 2017 revenue to be in a range of $2.15bn to $2.18bn.”

Stephen Spengler, Intelsat’s CEO, said in a press release issued on Thursday:

“Our second quarter 2017 revenue of $533 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $418 million, are in line with our June guidance update. We are making progress on sales of Intelsat EpicNG services with several new contracts on Intelsat 33e now completed, demonstrating that our new satellites are delivering superior performance for our service provider customers. The introduction of new Intelsat EpicNG enabled services, such as our operationally-efficient wireless solutions for 2G and 3G network extensions, expands our market opportunities as we continue to deploy the Intelsat EpicNG network. Progress on these optimized managed services, plus continued development of distributor relationships, support our return to growth as we complete our network deployment.”

An Intelsat corporate video presenting its EpicNG network. Source: Intelsat website