Sami Kassab, satellite analyst at investment bank Exane/BNPP, says that Covid-19 was not helping SES achieve its target revenue numbers, but the 9 per cent tumble in SES Video was the worst quarter of the year, and a worry.

In a report to clients, Kassab recognised that SES had signed new and renewed orders worth €650 million in its Video division. Indeed, another confirmation emerged on February 26th with German public broadcaster WDR (part of the ARD network) expanding its existing capacity obligation by taking an extra transponder at 19.3 degrees East.

SES says in future in will not be separately reporting its Video division’s numbers in the future. Kassab reminded investors that SES’s current Video contracts range from 5 to 10-year periods.

Giles Thorne, media analyst at Jefferies, told clients that it was going to take more than this set of numbers to “help the rehabilitation” of SES, despite its value credentials and the prospects of further gains from C-band.

Kassab also looked positively on the future potential extra benefits from C-band, saying: “We estimate these additional opportunities could add up to $1 billion or €1.5-€2 per share in a blue-sky scenario.”

The report admitted: “The road ahead remains long and treacherous but the stock has yield appeal and potential for positive surprises on C-band in the next 3-5 months.”.

Official guidance for 2021 from SES is that its Networks division will grow 2 to 6 per cent, but SES Video will further decline by 6 to 9 per cent.

Other posts by Chris Forrester:

1. Virgin Galactic in stock split
2. Thuraya-3 suffers major problem
3. AST SpaceMobile hit by Class Action
4. Optimism under threat at SES
5. Rivada visits Terran Orbital’s manufacturing HQ
6. Avanti wins spectrum debt obligation case
7. SpaceX breaks records for re-use launchers
8. IRIS2 already in trouble?
9. Intelsat contemplates next steps

Categories: Blogs, Business, Inside Satellite, Results, Satellite

Tags: Exane/BNPP, Jefferies, Sami Kassab, SES