Inmarsat, the British satellite telecommunications company, has reported annual profits dropped sharply as a rise in satellite revenues were brought down by a jump in costs.

For the 12 months to December 31st, pretax profit fell 28 per cent to $167.9 million and revenue increased by 5.3 per cent to $1.47 billion, with satellite services and Ligado revenues up 5.7 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.  Costs rose 33.7 per cent to $255 million from $190.7 million a year earlier. A sharp jump in aviation growth more than offsets a declining growth in the maritime division. Aviation revenues jumped 41 per cent to $256.1 for the year, within which In-Flight Connectivity revenues more than doubled. Maritime revenues fell 2.6 per cent to $552.8 million.

Rupert Pearce, CEO, said: “Inmarsat delivered consistent growth in 2018, building on our return to growth established in 2017. I am particularly pleased by the 85 per cent revenue growth in GX services and a doubling of our IFC revenues, both of which augur well for the future. We remain focused on building and defending substantial market share in our target markets, supported by our diversified product portfolio and leading-edge networks. This will ensure we are able to fully capitalise on both the immediate and longer-term growth opportunities in these markets.

“Supported by a tightly controlled cost base and an infrastructure capital investment programme which we are confident will meaningfully and sustainably moderate from 2021, we expect to generate sustained free cash flow growth over the medium to long term,” he concluded.

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