Lack of capacity and a high fill-rate at key neighbourhoods resulted in Eutelsat’s video application revenues in Q1 2013-14 being virtually unchanged on the same period a year earlier.
Results published by the satellite operator show that they amounted to €217.1 million in the three months to September 30, a modest increase of 0.4% year-on-year. On the other hand, revenues from data and value added services grew by 8.5% to €66.3 million over the same period, with the latter increasing by an impressive 42.2%.
Total revenues in Q1 amounted to €323.5 million, a 2.9% increase year-on-year. In the video application sector, there was particularly strong growth in the number of channels broadcast from 16 degrees East, up by 23% year-on-year to 728 as of the end of September.
Those at 7/8 degrees East and 36 degrees East increased by 17% to 688 and 9% to 786 respectively.
As of the end of September, Eutelsat satellites broadcast a total of 4,713 channels (+7% y-o-y), of which 439 (+15.8% y-o-y) were HD.
According to Eutelsat, professional revenues were slightly down as the first quarter of the previous fiscal year benefitted from additional demand for capacity generated by broadcasters and service providers delivering coverage of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
It also says coverage of Russia will be further enhanced with the entry into service of Express-AT1 (at 56 degrees East) and Express-AT2 (at 140 degrees East) in the second half of the current financial year, on which 16 transponders have already been contracted to Tricolor TV.
Commenting on the results, Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat chairman and CEO said: “Eutelsat delivered first quarter 2013-2014 revenues in line with objectives. The performance of video applications reflects the lack of available capacity for this activity, which will be addressed with future fleet deployments. The Group’s main video neighbourhoods saw good channel growth, demonstrating the positive underlying trend in our main application. Data and Value-Added Services revenues were underpinned by the growing contribution from Value-Added Services, up 42% in the quarter. Revenues also factored in the effect of the acquisition of EUTELSAT 172A for data Services and Multi-usage.
“This quarter saw the announcement of the acquisition of Satmex which, together with our multi-band Eutelsat 65 West A satellite to be launched to 65 degrees West will equip us to scale up our presence in the dynamic Latin American markets. Our in-orbit resources for North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia markets continues to expand with the entry into service today of the Eutelsat 25B satellite launched in August. Our deployment plan for the remainder of the current and the coming two years is on track, bringing additional capacity that will principally serve video markets in the fastest growing regions, notably Russia, the Middle East and Africa.
“Our financial objectives remain unchanged for the current and following two years. They will be adjusted once the Satmex acquisition is closed, and if necessary in the context of the current discussions with SES on the 28.5 degrees East situation.”
