Satellite operator SES reported a strong set of numbers for its Q3 period (to Sept 30) but also confirmed a clutch of problems on its satellites. For example its Americom AMC-6 craft has now had 6 transponders switched off. Then last week it seems its Astra 5A satellite (also know as Sirius 2) serving Astra's neworbital position at 31.5 deg East went slightly AWOL and developed a series ofproblems. SES president and CEO Romain Bausch said there did not appear to be technical problems associated with the craft, but that "human error could not be ruled out".
SES already has insurance discussions under way for problems on two other Americom satellites (AMC-4 and AMC-16) and Bausch said it was probable that a Ground Spare for Americom currently under construction by Orbital Sciences in the US would be used as a replacement/back-up for AMC-6 craft.
Setting these problems aside, it really all was good news for SES, with CFO Mark Rigolle upgrading guidance for the financial community for this year (helped by the strong dollar), and that the period 2009-2010 would continue to show strong profitability with CAGR expected to exceed 5%. Moreover, SES is fairly immunised from the current economic downturn. It has financing in place for the next 12 months for its capital expenditure programme, and he stressed that while some of SES clients might be postponing some activity there would be little or no impact in the short to medium term.
SES'recurring revenue for the year-to-date grew 7.1% to €1.186bn. Recurring EBITDA grew 5.6% to €846m, and operating profit rose 7% to €507.8m. Net profit for the 9 months was €338.8m.
Indeed,Romain Bausch delivered positive news as far as Germany was concerned, where the analogue switch-off was now anticipated to happen in the 2010-2011 timeframe, and where he saw a considerable uptake of HDTV-based services for Germany kicking in at about the same time. Bausch also explained that talks were again scheduled with Premiere's new News Corp management about Astra's 'entavio' digital TV system. "The situation is now much clearer at Premiere. We now have a clear interface at Premiere and hope to make progress over the next weeks and months. Importantly there is an increasing [level of] agreements between Germany's public and private broadcasters regarding the switch-over to digital. It is clear that by the end of 2010 or during 2011 there will be the switch-over from analogue to digital and in particular from the statements made by the public broadcasters there is a commitment to launch HDTV basically at the same time. This is a very good development."
Bausch said that this decision should help ‘entavio'.

Source: RapidTV News 2008

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