Eva Berneke, Chief Executive
Officer of Eutelsat Communications, said: “First
Quarter Revenues are in line with our expectations,
and we confirm our financial objectives for the
current and subsequent years.
Despite limited available
capacity at this stage, we continue to record a
strong double-digit growth in Fixed Broadband and
Mobile Connectivity highlighting the massive
long-term potential for both applications, while our
mature broadcast activities declined in line with
expectations.
We made further strong progress
in the implementation of our Telecom Pivot with the
completion of the implementation of our new
organization, aligned along two business lines –
Broadcast and Connectivity, and new leadership in
place for each business unit. The creation of two
business units will enhance customer-centricity,
boost efficiency and foster growth.
Finally, the successful launch
of the KONNECT VHTS satellite in September is a
crucial milestone for our Connectivity-driven return
to growth, bringing unprecedented levels of capacity
to the European markets, some of it already
pre-sold.”
1 Like-for-like change at
constant currency and perimeter.
2 Change at constant currency
and perimeter. The variation is calculated as
follows: i) Q1 2022-23 USD revenues are converted at
Q1 2021-22 rates; ii) Hedging revenues are excluded
from Other Revenues.
3 Other Revenues include mainly
the impact of EUR/USD revenue currency hedging, the
provision of various services or
consulting/engineering fees and termination fees.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Operating Vertical revenues
of €291m, down -4.3% like-for-like on a year-on-year
basis, in line with the mid-point of our full-year
objective.
• Continued robust double-digit
growth in Fixed Broadband (+21.1%) and Mobile
Connectivity (+31.4%) highlighting the long-term
potential of both applications.
• Successful launch of EUTELSAT
KONNECT VHTS on 7th September.
o Bringing 500 Gbps of
incremental capacity over Europe.
o Major firm precommitments
from Orange, Telecom Italia Mobile and Thales Alenia
Space, totalling c. €450m in backlog.
o Largest driver of our
Connectivity-driven future return to growth.
• Progress in the
implementation of the new organization along two
business lines, Video and Connectivity, as part of
the ‘Comete’ project.
o New organization partially in
place since 1
st September.
o Reorganization to enhance
customer-centricity, gain efficiency and accompany
return to growth.
o Laurence Delpy and Cyril
Dujardin respectively appointed as General Manager
of the Video Business Unit and as General Manager of
the Connectivity Business Unit.
• All financial objectives for
current and next fiscal year confirmed.
FIRST QUARTER REVENUES4
Total revenues for the First
Quarter stood at €287 million, stable on a reported
basis, and down by 4.5% like-for-like.
Revenues of the five Operating
Verticals (ie, excluding ‘Other Revenues’) stood at
€291 million. They were down by 4.3% on a
like-for-like basis excluding a positive currency
effect of c.+6 points. There were no perimeter
effects this quarter.
Quarter-on-quarter, revenues of
the five Operating Verticals were down by 3.8%
like-for-like.
Unless otherwise stated, all
variations indicated hereunder are expressed on a
like-for-like basis, ie, at constant currency and
perimeter.
Broadcast (59% of revenues)
First Quarter Broadcast
revenues amounted to €170 million, down 7.4%
year-on-year. They reflected
mostly the carry-forward effect of the partial
renewal of capacity with Nilesat at 7/8° West in
October 2021. Excluding the 7/8° West impact,
revenues were down at a low-single digit pace.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis,
revenues were down by 3.4%, partially explained by
one-off effects due to the phasing of contracts.
Looking ahead, the impact of
the Nilesat headwind will wash out from mid-October
2022; however,
revenues will be impacted by the anticipated
non-renewal of a capacity contract with Digitürk
from midNovember leading to an overall
mid-single-digit decline for this application for
the Full Year.
4 The share of each application
as a percentage of total revenues is calculated
excluding “Other Revenues”.
Data & Professional Video (14%
of revenues)
First Quarter Data &
Professional Video revenues stood at €41 million,
down by 2.4% year-on-year.
Professional Video, which now
represents less than a third of revenues for this
application, faced a midsingle-digit decline, while
Fixed Data revenues were in slight decline, with
improved volume trends now
offsetting most of the negative impact of
competitive pressure.
Quarter-on-quarter, revenues
were down by 2.4%, reflecting in particular the
seasonality of ‘Occasional Use’.
On the commercial front, the
EUTELSAT KONNECT satellite was selected by Liquid
Intelligent Technologies to provide connectivity
services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and
Small Office / Home Office (SOHO) customers across
Uganda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Over the Full Year, the Data &
Professional Video revenue trend is expected broadly
in line with the mid-single digit decline reported
in FY 2021-22.
Government Services (12% of
revenues)
First Quarter Government
Services revenues stood at €35 million, down 17.7%
year-on-year. This reflected mostly the negative
carry-forward effect of US Government renewals, only
partially offset by the contribution of EUTELSAT
QUANTUM, where most of the incremental capacity has
been booked in the Mobile Connectivity vertical.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis,
revenues were down by 8.2%, due to the transfer of
capacity sold on
EUTELSAT QUANTUM from the Government vertical to the
Mobile Connectivity vertical in our reporting.
The latest renewal campaign
with the US Government (Fall 2022) resulted in an
estimated renewal rate of around 65%.
Over the Full Year, the revenue
trend for Government Services will reflect the
carry-forward effect of Fall renewals as well as the
re-allocation of EUTELSAT QUANTUM revenues to other
verticals. It will also depend on the outcome of the
Spring 2023 renewal campaign with the US Government.
Fixed Broadband (6% of
revenues)
First Quarter Fixed Broadband
revenues stood at €19 million, up 21.1%
year-on-year. This reflects the carry-forward effect
of the November 2021 wholesale agreement with
Hispasat, the contribution of the multi-beam
agreement signed last year on EUTELSAT 65 West A
with several Mexican service providers, as well as,
to a lesser extent, continued progress at our
African operations.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis,
revenues were down by 15.7%, reflecting in
particular a €2.5 million
positive one-off booked in the Fourth Quarter of
last year.
Over the Full Year, Fixed
Broadband will keep growing, albeit at a slower pace
compared to the massive double-digit growth recorded
in FY 2021-22 (+36.0%), as the comparison basis will
gradually reflect the above-mentioned agreements
with Hispasat and Mexican service providers. Growth
is expected to reaccelerate in FY 2023-24 on the
back of the entry into service of KONNECT VHTS.
Mobile Connectivity (9 % of
revenues)
First Quarter Mobile
Connectivity revenues stood at €26 million, up 31.4
% year-on-year. This reflected,
continued progress in Maritime driven by the
agreement with Telenor in the cruise segment as well
as the contribution of EUTELSAT QUANTUM with two
beams commercialized for incremental capacity in
this vertical.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis,
revenues were up by 8.7%.
Over the Full Year, Mobile
Connectivity will record double-digit growth albeit
at a slower pace compared to the First Quarter as
the comparison basis will gradually reflect some of
the above-mentioned incremental contracts.
Other Revenues
‘Other Revenues’ amounted to
(€3) million in the First Quarter versus €3 million
a year earlier and (€2)
million in the Fourth Quarter of FY 2021-22. They
included a negative impact from hedging operations
of (€5) million in the First Quarter (compared to no
substantial impact in the First Quarter last year
and a negative impact of (€7) million in the Fourth
Quarter last year).
OPERATIONAL AND UTILIZED
TRANSPONDERS
The number of operational
transponders at 30 September 2022 stood at 1,359
units, down 17 units year-on-year, the latter
reflecting principally the end of life in stable
orbit of EUTELSAT 174A. The number of utilized
transponders stood at 990 units, up 6 units
year-on-year, reflecting principally the ramp-up of
the maritime connectivity vertical, partially offset
by the renewal campaigns with the US Government as
well as the partial renewal with Nilesat.
As a result, the fill rate
stood at 72.9% compared with 71.5% a year ago and
73.2% at end-June 2022.
30 Sep 2021 30 Jun 2022 30 Sep
2022
Operational transponders5 1,376
1,361 1,359
Utilized transponders6 984 996
990
Fill rate 71.5% 73.2% 72.9%
Note: Based on 36
MHz-equivalent transponders excluding high
throughput capacity
BACKLOG
The backlog stood at €3.9
billion at 30 September 2022, versus €4.2 billion at
end-September 2021 and €4.0 billion at end-June
2022. The backlog was equivalent to 3.4 times FY
2021-22 revenues, with
Broadcast representing 61%.
30 Sep 2021 30 Jun 2022 30 Sep
2022
Value of contracts (in billions
of euros) 4.2 4.0 3.9
In years of annual revenues 3.4
3.5 3.4
Share of Broadcast 64% 62% 61%
Note: The backlog represents
future revenues from capacity or service agreements
and can include contracts for satellites under
procurement.
5 Number of transponders on
satellites in stable orbit, back-up capacity
excluded.
6 Number of transponders
utilized on satellites in stable orbit.
OUTLOOK AND FINANCIAL TARGETS
The First Quarter performance
was in line with our expectations enabling us to
confirm our FY 2022-23
objective of revenues of the five Operating
Verticals of between €1,150-1,180 million7
.
All other objectives are also
confirmed as follows:
• Thanks to new capacity
including notably the firm precommitments secured on
EUTELSAT KONNECT VHTS and EUTELSAT 10B, revenues are
expected to grow from FY 2023-24.
• Cash Capex8 will not exceed
€400 million per annum for each of the next two
fiscal years (FY 2022-23 / FY 2023-24).
• The Group will continue to
leverage all measures to maximise cash generation
with an objective of Adjusted Discretionary Free
Cash Flow expected at an average of €420 million per
year at a €/$ rate of 1.00 for FY 2022-23 and FY
2023-24. Adjusted DFCF objectives exclude future
payments related to the exclusive commercial
partnership with OneWeb signed in July.
• We remain committed to a
sound financial structure and continue to target a
medium-term net debt / EBITDA ratio of around 3x.
• A €0.93 per share dividend
will be proposed to the upcoming AGM with a scrip
option. Beyond that, the dividend will be suspended
in the context of the proposed merger with Oneweb.
This outlook is based on the
nominal deployment plan outlined below. It assumes
no material deterioration of revenues generated from
Russian customers. It is a standalone outlook and
does not take account of the proposed merger with
OneWeb.
FLEET DEPLOYMENT
Nominal deployment programme
There are slight changes to the
nominal deployment plan since the last quarterly
update in July 2022
with the entry into service of EUTELSAT HOTBIRDS 13G
and 13F now expected in Q2/Q3 versus H1 previously.