Group revenue was “in line with our objectives”, CEO Steve Collar announced during a Thursday conference call. So far SES has secured $1.2bn in new business and commercial renewals, and approximately 85% of the group’s revenue outlook is already under contract.

Despite extra Networks spend, the 2022 adjusted Ebitda outlook at around €1,030-€1,050m “reflects robust profitability”, according to the satellite operator. CFO Sandeep Jalan attributed the net debt and leverage low to the effective cash flow operations.

2021 returned €275m to shareholders. SES proposed a dividend of €0.5 per A-share, an increase of 25% compared to 2020.

The 2022 outlook includes a €950m investment, while capital expenditure over 2023-2026 will average  €460m per annum.

Networks

SES’ Networks business remained “resilient”, up 0.5% year-on-year, representing 41% of the group’s revenue for 2021. SES anticipates bringing its “network of the future to the market” with its , launched in October by Arianespace, expected to enter service by mid-2022, bringing delivery connectivity solutions across the Americas, with the first of its O3b mPOWER services delivered before end-2022.

Despite the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in end-2021, Collar says there has been “strong demand from the US and other governments”.

SES added in its press statement that it “welcome[d] the progress being made by the European Commission in the definition of a secure and sovereign multi- orbit European space architecture which aligns well with both our infrastructure and our vision.”

SES also completed phase one of its C-band initiative in the US and with phase two on track, the operator anticipates triggering a $3bn additional incentive by late-2023.

Around a billion dollars of backlog are signed, including with five of the world’s top six cruise lines; major cloud and service partners, like Microsoft, Thales, Orange and Marlink; and due to its landmark joint venture partnership with Jio, an Indian telecoms company. “I could not be happier with this partnership with Jio,” Collar added, who sees it as “a huge opportunity for us to drive scale and growth through the O3B network.”

In addition to six O3b mPOWER satellite launches and the first launch of its US C-band satellite in Q2 2022,  SES-17 will also be in service by then. A second and third launch of US C-band, each two satellites, are anticipated for Q3, while Q4 will see the US C-band satellites in service, as well as three more O3b mPOWER launches, with the first set of six in service by then. 

Video

As Collar explained, SES exceeded its target in its Video business, exceeding its outlook of -4.6% YOY compared to -8% YOY in 2020.

Representing 59% of group revenue, Video was driven in part by SES’ expanding HD+ business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, growing revenue for the first time in a number of years thanks to a rising subscriber base.

The outlook anticipates this curve flattening to low-single digit average decline, although SES expects the Networks acceleration to offset that.