Inmarsat moves to profit
March 29, 2022
By Chris Forrester
London-based Inmarsat, itself in the process of being acquired by Viasat of California, turned a 2020 loss of $182.9 million (€166.4m) into a profit for last year of $17.7 million.
The profit might seem modest but coming out of the Covid pandemic with many of its core client connectivity services being badly hit, it is a creditable performance. Revenues were up from $1.27 billion in 2020 to $1.35 billion in 2021 (up 6.3 per cent).
Viasat is spending an overall $7.3 billion buying Inmarsat, including debt.
Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmarsat, said the results “all reflect strong improvements and robust momentum in our business”. He added that the Viasat transaction “is on track and expected to close in the second half of 2022”.
Suri reported a continued strong growth in governmental business and a healthy improvement in its business and commercial aviation segments. Passenger-based aircraft using Inmarsat grew to 853 planes (up 6 per cent) as at December 31st 2021. Inmarsat’s overall aviation division jumped 27.3 per cent (albeit from a Covid-hit 2020) to $226.9 million last year.
Inmarsat’s Maritime division saw revenues grow 3.2 per cent ($11.8 million) and helped by income from Speedcast.
Not reported in its numbers because of an agreement to delay revenue for the moment is cash from US-based Ligado Networks. That cash, worth $395 million, is deferred until January 2023