AsiaSat Announces Interim Results

22 August 2013

Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited announces its 2013 interim
results for the six months ended 30 June 2013.

Financial Summary:
 Turnover HK$767,383,000 -25%
 Profit attributable to shareholders HK$400,678,000 +1.4%
 Earnings per share HK$1.03 +2%
 Dividend per share
HK$0.12 No change
Note: 2012 interim turnover included a one-off revenue contribution of HK$296 million.
Excluding this one-off revenue contribution, the core business turnover recorded a slight increase.

Operational Highlights:
 Manufacture of new satellites AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 on track for launch in 1H 2014 to
bring new capacity for future business growth
 Overall utilisation rate of in-oribit satellites, AsiaSat 3S, AsiaSat 4 and AsiaSat 5, remained stable at 79%
 Short-term revenue from AsiaSat 7 before it replaces AsiaSat 3S in 2014
 New partnership with GeoMetWatch to host the first hyperspectral STORM™ sensor on
board AsiaSat 9, the company’s future satellite planned for launch in 2016

AsiaSat’s Chairman, Ju Wei Min, said, “For the second half of 2013, we do not expect to see any major new business developments as we await the launch of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 in the first half of 2014. These new satellites will provide an opportunity to grow our business in years to come.”

“We foresee that new business will remain highly competitive during the second half. We can also expect a reduction in turnover and profit as we will feel the full effect of the renegotiated contracts with one of our longest-standing customers at terms lower than the previous contracts in the second half.”

Announcement of Unaudited Results for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2013
Chairman’s Statement
STABLE PERFORMANCE IN CORE BUSINESS
After several consecutive years of record results, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (“AsiaSat”) produced relatively flat results in the six months leading up to 30 June 2013.

As stated in our 2012 annual report, these results were expected after taking into account a
number of exceptional items affecting our business, such as the one-off revenue contribution
from customers following the enactment of the Finance Act in India in May 2012 and the sale of one of our subsidiary companies.

Additionally, the stable performance achieved during the first six months of 2013 may not be
reflected in the remainder of the year. As previously announced, contracts with a key customer were renegotiated last year at lower levels. The full impact of this change will be felt in the second half of the year. We expect 2014 will see improvement with the launches of new satellites that will add to our capacity and fuel the further growth of our business.

INTERIM RESULTS
Turnover
Turnover from continuing operations for the first half of 2013 was HK$767 million (2012:
HK$1,022 million), representing a decrease of 25% over the same period last year. The
reduction was caused mainly by reason of a one-off revenue contribution of HK$296 million
recorded in the same period last year as a result of the enactment of Finance Act in India in
May 2012. The elimination of this item results in a slight increase in our core business revenue, assisted by the short-term revenue generated from leasing AsiaSat 7 to certain customer.

Operating expenses
Operating expenses in the first half of 2013, excluding depreciation, totalled HK$96 million
(2012: HK$126 million), representing a decrease of 24% compared with the first half of 2012.
The reduction resulted mainly from the incurring in the first half of 2012 of professional fees
associated with the privatisation proposal, while no such expense was incurred in the current period. The reversal of impairment provisions previously made on certain customer debts also contributed to the decrease in operating expenses.

Profit
Profit attributable to equity holders for the first half of 2013 was HK$401 million (2012: HK$395 million), slightly better compared to the same period last year, despite a reduction in revenue, mainly as a result of the reduction in professional fees referred to above, coupled with careful management of expenditure.

Cash flow
For the first six months to 30 June 2013, the Group generated a net cash inflow of HK$9 million (2012: HK$74 million) after capital expenditure of HK$584 million (2012: HK$664 million). As of 30 June 2013, the Group had cash and bank balances of HK$2,114 million (31 December 2012: HK$2,105 million) and continues to be free of debt.

Dividend
The Board has declared an interim dividend of HK$0.12 per share (2012: HK$0.12 per share), which will become payable on or about 1 November 2013 to equity holders on the share
register as at 8 October 2013. The share register will be closed from 2 to 8 October 2013 (both days inclusive).

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
Board and senior management
During the period under review, three new Independent Non-Executive Directors (“INEDs”)
were appointed to the Board of Directors. These comprised Mr. Stephen Hoi Yin LEE and Mr. Kenneth McKELVIE, whose appointments were announced on 6 March 2013, and Ms. Maura WONG Hung Hung whose appointment took effect on 9 May 2013.

Also announced during the first half of 2013 were the resignations of Mr. MI Zeng Xin and Mr. Mark CHEN. At the conclusion of the annual general meeting on 19 June 2013, the Company announced the retirement of Professor Edward CHEN and Mr. Robert SZE, who served as INEDs of the Company and as Chairman and/or members of various Board committees for many years. The Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Mi, Mr. Chen, Professor Chen and Mr. Sze for the invaluable services they have rendered to the Company.

The three committees of the Board and their chairs have also been restructured owing to the
number of new members joining or retiring from the Board.

SATELLITES
Our fleet
AsiaSat’s existing fleet of four in-orbit satellites — AsiaSat 3S, AsiaSat 4, AsiaSat 5 and
AsiaSat 7 — continued to provide exceptional service to millions of people across the Asia-
Pacific region.

We are also pleased to report that the manufacture and preparation for the launches of our
new satellites AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 remained on track, with AsiaSat 6 scheduled for the first quarter of 2014 and AsiaSat 8 for the second quarter. Once in orbit, these new satellites will provide us with the capacity to exploit new opportunities and serve existing growth markets.

AsiaSat 6 will be focused on market opportunities for video and telecommunications services in Mainland China, where we are presently providing primarily data and telecommunications services. With AsiaSat 6’s ability to meet the Chinese customers’ requirements for high quality satellite capacity, we hope to increase our presence and scope of service in this significant market.

AsiaSat 8, which will be collocated with one of our existing satellites, will add new Ku-band
capacity to serve high-growth markets in the South Asia and Central Asia as well as the Asia-Pacific region.

AsiaSat 7, now in orbit, will replace AsiaSat 3S in 2014. As we stated in our 2012 annual
report, we had been looking for interim opportunities to generate temporary sources of revenue for this new satellite. During the period, opportunities arose that have allowed us to generate short term revenue from this satellite.

The total number of transponders leased or sold as of 30 June 2013 decreased to 104 from
105 as of 31 December 2012. The overall utilisation rate for the period remained stable at 79% as of 30 June 2013.

New contracts won during the review period amounted to a total value of HK$234 million (2012: HK$91 million), while renewed contracts were HK$181 million (2012: HK$1,397 million).

Combined new and renewed contracts amounted to HK$415 million (2012: HK$1,488 million).

MARKET REVIEW
In my Chairman’s Statement for 2012 I expressed some concern about the prospects for our
business in the prevailing economic climate, although I remained optimistic about the industry as a whole.

We are finding that the weak economic situation is beginning to affect our customers and our Asian competitors, which has created a more competitive market. Nevertheless, we believe there are opportunities for the expansion of our business in the key growth markets of South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

We particularly see potential to serve new Ku-band markets in Southeast Asia, such as
Indonesia and Thailand, and new and existing markets for services such as DTH and HDTV.
As some of these markets lack capacity from their own domestic satellites, customers are
looking to foreign operators to provide the capacity they need to expand their existing services or launch new services. Our reputation for providing highly reliable satellite capacity together with our commitment to the customer puts us in an excellent position to develop new business opportunities in these markets.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
GeoMetWatch Partnership In April we announced a partnership with GeoMetWatch Corp to host a new generation of meteorological instruments on board our future satellite AsiaSat 9, planned for a 2016 launch date.

To be positioned at 122 degrees East, it is intended that AsiaSat 9 will host the first
hyperspectral STORM™ sensor that will collect a level of weather data not currently available and allow meteorologists to provide more accurate weather forecasts and predictions of severe weather conditions.

Although there are a number of technical and commercial challenges yet to be overcome, we are enthusiastic about taking this partnership forward and realising its potential to provide us with a new and diversified revenue stream for AsiaSat 9.

INDIAN FINANCE ACT
The Finance Act passed in May 2012 continued to affect our business in that country, as this Act attempts to tax revenue generated from the provision of satellite transponder capacity to Indian customers and any non-Indian customers considered having income earned from any business/source in India. As stated in previous reports, the amount of AsiaSat’s revenue if any, considered to be Indian sourced, is still under discussion as of the date of this report.

In the Indian Government Budget which was announced in February of this year, one of the
initiatives of which was the increase of the royalty withholding tax rate from 10% to 25%
effective from 1 April, 2013. This Budget was approved by the parliament in India in May.

 This increase in tax rate could have a negative impact on our business in that country.

EX-IM BANK LOAN
We were pleased to note that in June our application had been authorised for a long-term loan of up to US$343 million by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (“Ex-Im Bank”), an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance purchases of US products. The loan, whose terms and conditions are yet to be finalised, will be used to finance the construction and launches of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8.

DISPOSAL OF SPEEDCAST
SpeedCast ceased to contribute to the Group’s results with effect from September 2012.
However, SpeedCast continues to be a customer of AsiaSat, using AsiaSat’s satellite capacity to provide services for broadband applications across the Asia-Pacific region, and remains a key revenue contributor.

OUTLOOK
For the second half of 2013, we do not expect to see any major new business developments as we await the launch of AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 in the first half of 2014. These new satellites will provide an opportunity to grow our business in years to come.

We foresee that new business will remain highly competitive during the second half. We can
also expect a reduction in turnover and profit as we will feel the full effect of the renegotiated
contracts with one of our longest-standing customers at terms lower than the previous
contracts in the second half.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank our management team and staff for their dedication and hard work for the Company. I am also grateful to our Board of Directors, particularly those who have retired this year for their many years of dedicated service. Their wisdom and advice over the years has been instrumental in guiding our Company forward.

Finally, I would like to thank our customers, suppliers and shareholders for their continuing
support and to assure them that the year ahead will be one of renewed business opportunities for AsiaSat.

JU Wei Min
Chairman
22 August 2013