Analyst predicts SES results
February 23, 2017
By Chris Forrester
Satellite operator SES is due to unveil its full-year results on February 24th. Analysts are expecting Q4 revenues to be around €575 million.
Sami Kassab, equity analyst at Exane/BNP-Paribas, said he expects SES to report 2.5 per cent organic revenue decline for the full year with flat (0.3 per cent) growth in Video and strong (+50 per cent) growth in Mobility mitigating an 18 per cent decline in Enterprise and a 6 per cent fall in Government sector revenues. Kassab says he expects O3B, now fully absorbed by SES, to see revenues reaching $121 million excluding intercompany eliminations.
“We expect management to guide to the top line returning to growth in FY17 and argue that growth can accelerate in FY18. This consensual view is underpinned by the steady growth of O3B (whose revenues will be included in the FY16 base number despite the acquisition closing in August) and SES’s new satellite launch programme. With 30 percent of upcoming satellites pre-sold, the risk of disappointing revenues (witnessed at Eutelsat last year) looks low,” Kassab adds.