Satellite giant Intelsat has reported its Q3 numbers (covering the three months to September 30th) and specifically highlighted that its 2016 launch schedule is firmly on track. The company needs the extra capacity to help drive new revenues, and Intelsat said it has signed up 6 fresh contracts for the additional craft.

“Today we announced a number of new contracts on the Intelsat Epic fleet, demonstrating our differentiated position and the ability to address expected incremental opportunities of approximately $3 billion by 2020 from new and faster growing applications and vertical markets,” said a company statement.

Nevertheless, revenues for Q3 were down some $28 million on the same period last year, at $581 million ($609 million last year), and EBITDA also suffering (at $458 million for Q3/2015, compared to $485 million last year). Intelsat explained the numbers, saying: “Our performance on this metric reflects reduced revenue per our expectations, as is discussed further in this document, and modestly increased expenses primarily due to incremental investments related to our ground segment innovation initiatives. Free cash flow from operations of $255 million reflects cash interest payments given the timing of our debt service and timing of capital expenditures based upon the milestones achieved in the period.”

Intelsat’s all-important contracted backlog stands at an unchanged – and impressive – $9.5 billion.

Categories: Articles, Business, DTH/Satellite, Results