SES says a 5% profit increase is helping to lay the foundation for sustainable growth.
The Luxembourg satellite operator has declared 2015 revenues at €2,014.5 million, also up 5% on the year, leading to post-tax profits of €674 million.
Video revenues grew by 2%, but it was the growth of HD services at 18.3% (against an industry average of 12.9%) that was the standout number.
Karim Michel Sabbagh, President and CEO, said: “SES’s on-going globalisation contributed to 5.0% growth in reported revenue. Focus on delivering differentiated solutions generated revenue growth in three of the four market verticals now defining SES’s global business. Video grew in developed and emerging markets, supported by SES’s superior growth in HD and being first to add commercial Ultra HD channels.
During 2015, SES completed over €1.5 billion of contract renewals and new business, which have contributed to maintaining SES’s substantial contract backlog of €7.4 billion as at 31 December).
European TV channels grew 9% to nearly 2,600, while HDTV channels increased 26% to 675. During the period, SES secured a long-term contract to broadcast BBC World News, the free-to-air (FTA) international news channel, in HD. In August 2015, Deutsche Welle signed long-term capacity agreements on three satellites (ASTRA 4A, ASTRA 5B and SES-5) to broadcast German and English-language channels in Eastern Europe and Africa.
In December 2015, Viasat, a DTH broadcaster and pay-TV operator owned by Swedish media and entertainment group Modern Times Group, extended its capacity contract to broadcast 230 channels in the Nordic and Baltic countries via ASTRA 4A and SES-5. In addition, continued demand for high-quality content drove an 11% increase in HD+’s paying subscriber base to over 1.8 million.
