Inmarsat’s share price crashed 12 per cent last week as investors exited the business. On May 6th its share price tumbled 50p to its lowest price of the year, and the biggest faller on the London FTSE market. Its price closed at 812.5p.

The falls come following a disappointing set of quarterly results for the London-based specialist satellite operator (profits fell to $58.5 million from $96.3 million the previous year). Sales of transponder capacity were also lower (at $298.6 million, from $304.8 million last year).

 Assorted analyst reports also severely cut back their expectations from, mostly slashing about £1 from their target prices and in Barclays case from 950p to 850p.

Barclays told clients that Inmarsat was suffering from inconsistent demand and preparations for new products. “Longer term, we recognise the growth opportunities, but also the fast-growing supply in the industry,” said Barclays.

Those comments referred to Inmarsat’s anticipation of a growing share of aircraft-based entertainment services, as well as increased competition in Inmarsat’s core maritime and aeronautical connectivity.

Inmarsat’s CEO, Rupert Pearce, told analysts: “Looking at our core business, there’s no doubt that our customers in many of our important markets are experiencing choppy waters. We talked about these trends on March 3rd in the context of a softer fourth quarter performance in 2015. And all of the factors we investigated then have continued and, in some cases, have intensified.”

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. EU unveils IRIS2 tender documents
2. Musk: ‘Problems with some Starlinks’
3. Busy two weeks for SpaceX
4. Virgin Orbit’s collapse
5. SpaceX: “We can boost launch capacity”
6. Kuiper: More details emerge
7. OneWeb gives up on stolen satellites
8. SES vs Intelsat: Appeal hearing March 20
9. Water could power satellite in orbit

Categories: Blogs, Business, Inside Satellite