Advanced Television

Viasat reports record revenue

February 4, 2022

By Chris Forrester

California-based Viasat saw double digit organic revenue growth in Q3, reported Virgin Atlantic as a new in-flight connectivity (IFC) customer, and continued to expand its fixed broadband presence internationally. The operator is also in the midst of acquiring London-based Inmarsat.

For Q3 FY2022 Viasat earned record revenue of $720 million (€627.9m), a 25 per cent Y-o-Y increase from $576 million in Q3 FY2021.

A letter to shareholders said: “Top-line growth was driven by our recent acquisitions, broad-based service revenue growth across each of our segments and strong product sales. While Q3 FY2022 net income was down Y-o-Y due to higher depreciation and non-recurring acquisition expenses, we achieved record Adjusted EBITDA of $163 million, a 10 percent Y-o-Y increase from the prior year period.”

However, Viasat also said that the launch of its much-needed Viasat 3 satellite, the first of a trip of ‘next generation’ craft, has slipped to “late summer”. It had been expected to join Viasat’s existing fleet earlier in 2022. “We’ve been working through limited availability of specific critical skill workers,” CEO Rick Baldridge said on aninvestor call.

At the segment level, Viasat said: “Satellite Services Q3 FY2022 revenue increased to a record $310 million, a 40 per cent increase Y-o-Y and the sixth quarter of sequential growth since the height of the pandemic in Q1 FY2021. The two acquisitions that closed earlier this fiscal year and continued improvement in In-Flight Communication (IFC) service revenues were the primary drivers. Government Systems revenue increased 2 percent Y-o-Y, to $270 million, with most of the growth coming from higher services revenue. Commercial Networks revenue surged by 55 per cent Y-o-Y to $140 million for Q3 FY2022.”

The main growth drivers in that segment continued to be mobile IFC terminal deliveries and the performance of Viasat’s ground antenna systems business.

The operator updated shareholders on progress of its latest fleet of Viasat 3 satellites, saying: “The Viasat-3 (Americas) payload is being readied for thermal vacuum testing at Boeing – a major milestone in final spacecraft integration. Supplier issues resulted in modest slippage in the launch schedule, which is now targeted for late summer 2022. We have also made significant progress on the second ViaSat-3 payload module (for the EMEA region) in our own facilities, with ~95 per cent of the payload units now installed.”

“The Inmarsat acquisition,” stated Viasat, “once closed, is expected to reinforce our strategy and support a broader foundation for long-term growth by enabling global coverage sooner, expanding our premium service capabilities to more markets and customers, increasing network resiliency, leveraging established global distribution networks, leveraging a leading position in L-band spectrum and space resources, capturing operational and capital synergies and creating new business and innovation opportunities.”

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