Intelsat declared its Q2 revenues and numbers early on August 4th, saying its all-important backlog of contracts in hand had grown by some $200 million to $10.3 billion during the three months to June 30th.

However, revenues for the quarter-year totalled $615.7 million ($653.8m) fell back from the same period last year, and many of Intelsat’s key segments suffered during the period.

These declines meant that Intelsat’s average fill-rate also fell back from 77 per cent in the previous quarter to 76 per cent in the period to June 30th.  Intelsat has 2150 station-kept transponders in operation.

“We remain focused on working with our blue chip customers to provide them with satellite-based infrastructure that supports their business growth. During the quarter we announced a new satellite program with DTH operator, MultiChoice, as the anchor customer. The 15-year agreement expands our relationship with the leading pay television operator in Africa, and positions us for long-term growth. We ended the second quarter of 2014 with a contracted backlog of $10.3 billion, providing visibility into revenue and cash flow, said Dave McGlade, Intelsat’s president & CEO.

McGlade continued, “Our satellite programs remain on track, with Intelsat 30 expected to launch in the fourth quarter. With the benefits of strong Adjusted EBITDA margins, lower than average lifecycle capital expenditures and reduced interest costs producing strong cash flows, we continue to demonstrate progress on the first phase of our two-phase investment thesis. Today, we have raised our Adjusted EBITDA margin guidance and increased the target to de-lever our balance sheet in 2014 to approximately $475 million.”

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