Asia-Pacific helps Eutelsat grow turnover

Expansion in the Asia-Pacific has been partly responsible for the continuing financial success of European satellite service provider Eutelsat, the company said.

Eutelsat revealed its full 2013-14 results, showing revenues rising in line with expectations by 2.6 per cent to US$ 1.8 billion.

According to Rapid TV News, this income was the driving force for its before-tax earnings breaking the billion Euro barrier to €1.347 billion, a margin of 77.6 per cent, and the company also reported a record backlog of €6.4 billion. Chairman and CEO Michel de Rosen said the figures included six months of Satmex operations, with the Mexican satellite firm’s financial contribution fulfilling expectations.

He added: “Additional capacity coming on stream will allow us to accelerate top-line growth in the coming three years. This growth will be principally driven by video and selected opportunities in broadband and mobility in fast growing markets, notably in Latin America and in Asia-Pacific.”

As proof, Eutelsat said it had sealed procurement and launch contracts with Airbus Defence and Space and Arianespace for the triple-mission EUTELSAT 172B satellite designed to provide continuity and expansion capacity at the 172° East orbital position, a prime gateway for services in the Asia-Pacific region. The craft will be launched by an Ariane 5 rocket in the first half 2017 and will host regular C-band (14 physical transponders) and Ku-band (36 physical transponders) payloads. It will also host the Pacific Ocean Region’s first Ku-band high-throughput payload that Panasonic Avionics Corporation has already selected as its key growth platform for in-flight broadband and live TV for commercial airlines on trans-Pacific and Asian routes.