ChinaSat profits tumble
September 7, 2020
ChinaSat has reported a 3.9 per cent decline in revenues and 8 per cent decline in net profits for H1/2020 compared to H1/2019. Revenues for the half-year slid from RMB 1.31 billion (€162.2m) to RMB 1.26 billion, with profit dropping from RMB 208 million to RMB 191 million.
The company says its highlights for the half-year include China’s first “5G + 8K + Satellite” live video broadcast, as well as increased emphasis on the company’s maritime satcom service, “Haixingtong” managed by ChinaSat subsidiary SinoSat. The company also completed the first successful Ka-band-connected passenger flight during the half-year.
ChinaSat’s market cap remains above RMB 90 billion, but this is a about an extremely high ~35-40x revenues.
ChinaSat operates at various orbital locations including 98 degrees East and 115.5 degrees East.
Last year it lost a craft (ChinaSat 18, launched in August 2019) which is stuck in a geostationary transfer orbit and not in its correct position having lost all electrical power. It filed an insurance claim of some $250 million. Viasat of California had entered into a pre-launch contract with ChinaSat to use capacity on ChinaSat 18 as part of Visat’s global coverage.
ChinaSat, is a subsidiary of the China Aerospace and Science Technology Corporation (CASC).