Sunday, August 9, 2020

Intelsat: 75% average fill rate for its satellite transponders

Intelsat reported revenue of $482.0 million and net loss of $405.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020.

Intelsat’s Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Spengler, said, “Our business demonstrated resiliency in a challenging operating environment, highlighted by a sequential quarterly increase in revenue and Adjusted EBITDA largely from the successful execution of a new agreement with Speedcast in our network services business. Financial results, when compared to the same period last year, reflect the ongoing challenges in our network services business due to the impacts of COVID-19 in the cruise maritime and aeronautical mobility, despite booking new business in merchant maritime and enterprise network applications. The decline in the media business was driven by ongoing secular headwinds that we have experienced over several quarters. Finally, the government services business delivered year-over-year growth in revenues resulting from strong uptake of third-party services and growth in our new FlexGround managed services."

Spengler concluded, “During the period we filed our initial C-band transition plan with the FCC, detailing our roadmap to meet their accelerated spectrum clearing deadlines. The final transition plans are due to be filed with the FCC on August 14, 2020. We will consult with the FCC and continue to refine our plan as that date approaches. Ongoing engagement with our supply chain, vendors, and customers gives us a high degree of confidence that we can execute our transition plan and ensure that the U.S. maintains its 5G leadership position."

Some highlights:

  • Network services revenue was $176.7 million (or 37 percent of Intelsat’s total revenue) for the three months ended June 30, 2020, a decrease of 5 percent compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019
  • Media revenue was $202.6 million (or 42 percent of Intelsat’s total revenue) for the three months ended June 30, 2020, a decrease of 9 percent compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019.
  • Government revenue was $96.1 million (or 20 percent of Intelsat’s total revenue) for the three months ended June 30, 2020, an increase of 3 percent compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019.
  • Intelsat’s average fill rate at June 30, 2020 on our approximately 1,675 36 MHz station-kept wide-beam transponders was 75.1 percent, as compared to an average fill rate at March 31, 2020 of 78.5 percent on the company's approximately 1,675 transponders. 
  • As of June 30, 2020, the Intelsat fleet included approximately 1,225 36 MHz equivalent transponders of high-throughput Intelsat Epic capacity, reflecting no change from the prior quarter.



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