Eutelsat enjoyed impressive growth in the six months ending December 31, 2010, its revenues of €575.9 million during the period being 13.3% up on a year earlier.
At the same time, its EBITDA rose by 12.5% year-on-year to €463 million, while the group share of net income was up by 25.1% to €174.5 million.
Video applications registered growth of 8.5% over the six-month period and amounted to €392.1 million, or 69.2% of the total.
They were driven by new contracts for capacity of W7, which provides pay-TV services in Russia and Africa; renewal of contracts for premium-priced transponder capacity on then flagship Hot Bird neighbourhood; new contacts on the Atlantic Bird 4A satellite, serving the Middle East and North Africa; and new contracts on Eurobird 9A from pay-TV platform operators and broadcasters from Europe and Western Russia.
As of the end of December 2010, Eutelsat’s fleet was broadcasting a total of 3,782 TV channels, 195 of which were in HD. This was 334 (9.7%) more than a year earlier.
New channels from Eutelsat’s Second Continent accounted for 63% of channel growth, with double-digit growth being recorded in the 7 degree West, 16 degrees East and 36 degrees East neighbourhoods.
Group share of net income was boosted by several factors including a strong performance from Hispasat, of which Eutelsat owns 27.69%.
Eutelsat’s revenue growth target is consistent with a 25% fleet expansion (including KA-SAT) planned for the three fiscal years from 2010-2011 by its investment programme, which includes the launch of six satellites.
