This coming Thursday (February 7th) will see Eutelsat reveal its half-year numbers, and the consensus from the market is that a series of records will emerge for the satellite operator. Top line video revenues are expected to grow by 8.6 per cent to €438 million and helping drive overall revenues to €633 million.

The situation at Eutelsat’s Paris offices is much improved on this same period a year ago when the company issued a profits warning. However, there remain concerns. Analysts at investment banker Morgan Stanley say that while CEO Michel de Rosen was confident at the end of last year the launch of new capacity would help Eutelsat win new US government contracts in March 2013, “recent debates concerning the fiscal cliff, budgets constraints and austerity may lead de Rosen to mitigate his optimism when he communicates to the market [this] week though.

The bank says any upbeat tone on Thursday would be viewed as a clear incremental positive for Eutelsat. And it isn’t just military demands and reductions in demand that are a worry. There remain concerns over Eutelsat’s giant broadband-by-satellite craft Ka-Sat “who fear it might be taking much longer to take off,” stated the bank. The market is expecting some guidance – good or bad – in the form of Tooway subscription numbers.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. Intelsat: ‘Insider trading’ appeal lodged
2. ESA boss praises SpaceX
3. How Virgin Orbit lost a billion dollars
4. Spaceport resurrects Sea Launch concept
5. Analysts issue Paramount Global warning
6. Viasat, Inmarsat targeting growth in IFC, D2C cellular
7. South Africa misses DSO again
8. SpaceX extends reuse of Falcon 9 boosters
9. Terran Orbital under financial pressure

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