Satellite operator SES has posted revenues of €844.9 million for the first half of this year, a 4.5% increase on the corresponding period in 2009. Its EBITDA was meanwhile 3.3% higher at €632.7 million, and operating profit rose by 4.5% to reach €386.3 million.
The first half this year has been eventful for SES and its subsidiaries in a number of respects. SES Astra, for instance, was able to add 21 additional transponders to its capacity through the launch of Astra 3B in June. In total, its technical reach at the end of June stood at 125 million TV homes, or 3 million more than a year earlier, and it broadcast 135 HD channels.
SES World Skies meanwhile launched the SES-1 satellite in May and new platforms (such as Claro TV, in Puerto Rico) began to use the company’s services in a number of territories.
Commenting on the results, SES president and CEO Romain Bausch said: “SES continued to implement its growth strategy during the first six months of the year, launching and bringing into service three new satellites. These satellites brought important replacement and incremental capacity, for the US, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Indian Ocean region. We are negotiating the disposal of ND SatCom as part of our strategy to focus services activities on developing demand for capacity on our satellites. The overall development of group activities and the financial result for the period is entirely in line with our previous guidance.”
