Eutelsat reports full-year gains

Eutelsat 8 West B launch

Satellite operator Eutelsat reported a 0.2% like-for-like revenue increase for full-year 2015-2016 to €1.53 billion, while EBITDA was up 2.9% to €1.16 billion.

Announcing its results for the 12 months ended June 30, 2016, Eutelsat said that revenues from video applications were up 2.3% like-for-like to €943.6 million, and accounted for 64% of the company’s overall revenues.

The gains reflected growth in MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa with the entry into service of new capacity on Eutelsat 8 West B in October 2015 and Eutlesat 36C in February 2016, as well as growth at 16° East and 7° East.

Eutelsat said that Fransat also recorded higher revenues on the back of the transition to High Definition in France.

“These positive elements more than offset lower revenues at the Hotbird position following the non-renewal in recent months of some contracts with service providers, a decline in revenues from professional video and lower revenues in Russia following the renegotiation of certain contracts last year,” according to the company.

As of June 30, 2016, the total number of channels broadcast by Eutelsat satellites stood at 6,342, an increase of 549 channels compared to the same time a year earlier.

High definition TV penetration continued to increase, representing 13.6% of channels compared to 11.9% a year earlier. A total of 863 channels were broadcast in HD across Eutelsat’s fleet, up from 687 a year earlier.

“The past year has seen a number of operational milestones, with the successful launch of five new satellites and the roll-out of initiatives to address the African broadband market,” said Eutelsat CEO Rodolphe Belmer.

We made further advances in our core Video activity, exceeding the 6,000 channel mark on our fleet, with a further rise in HD penetration and the launch of the first commercial Ultra HD channels.