Advanced Television

Avanti revenues up, backlog down

September 16, 2015

By Chris Forrester

London-based satellite data operator Avanti reported improved revenues for its 2015 financial year. Revenues grew almost 30 per cent to $85.2 million (€75.9m). EBITDA also grew to $16 million (from $1.7m).  The operator’s losses were reduced to $73.1 million from $87.2 million.

But its contract backlog fell back, suggesting that customers are reducing the average length of their contractual deal with Avanti. Backlog stands at $389.5 million, from $430 million last year.

The news went down well with the market, with equity brokers Jefferies recommending a ‘BUY’ on the stock, and helped by Avanti exceeding consensus revenue estimates of around $80 million. However, Jefferies notes that part of the revenue jump is down to the “non-cash” sale of spectrum in return for high-quality Ka-band spectrum from an unnamed operator.

Avanti’s rate card pricing of around $2000 per MHz per Month is highly competitive, and “underscores its ability to take share from peers while also driving market growth. Avanti generates three times as many MHz per ton than even the most advanced Ku-band HTS peers while also being able to extract double the “Mbps per MHz” (due to high spectral efficiency). This means its pricing is far superior on a $ / Mbps / month basis,” states Jefferies.

Categories: Articles, Business, DTH/Satellite, M&A