Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the UAE satellite solutions provider listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, has announced its consolidated financial results for the quarter ending March 31st 2023.

Yahsat continued to deliver year-on-year growth in revenue, EBITDA and Net Income, which increased 2 per cent, 4 per cent and 35 per cent respectively during the quarter. On a normalised basis EBITDA and Net Income surged by 8 per cent and 46 per cent respectively.

First quarter revenues reached AED 369 million (€91.4m) for the first time in Yahsat’s history with the strong performance primarily driven by the Managed Solutions segment, which saw revenue increase significantly by 29 per cent year-on-year to AED 72 million. Infrastructure, the Group’s largest business segment, continued to deliver stable and predictable returns, reporting AED 220 million in revenue for the period, 1 per cent higher than the prior year.

Highlights for the period include:

• Revenue of AED 369 million], up 2 per cent year-on-year, driven by strong growth of 29 per cent in Managed Solutions, and further growth in the Infrastructure and Data Solutions businesses.
• Normalised EBITDA of AED 231 million, up 8 per cent year-on-year, delivering a superior margin of 63 per cent.
• Normalised Net Income of AED 108 million up 46 per cent year-on-year, generating a strong margin of 29 per cent.
• Contracted future revenue of AED 7 billion, equivalent to 4.4 times last-twelve-month revenue.
• Robust balance sheet with negative Net Debt, strong cash position and long-term visibility of future cash flows, continues to support Yahsat’s investment in organic growth as well as opportunistic acquisitions, without impacting its progressive dividend policy.
• Net finance costs were negative, boosting net income as finance income exceeded costs on higher cash balances benefiting from higher interest rates versus the prior period.
• On track to grow full year 2023 dividend by at least 2 per cent to 16.46 fils per share or AED 402 million – based on the last closing share price, this implies an annualised dividend yield of over 6 per cent, amongst the highest offered by UAE listed stocks.
• Guidance for full year revenue, EBITDA, Discretionary Free Cash Flow and cash capex and investments remains unchanged.

Ali Al Hashemi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Yahsat, commented: “Yahsat had a strong start to the year with continued focus on growing both our core government business and commercial segments, whilst optimising costs across the Group. The upcoming Thuraya-4 NGS satellite, due to be launched in 2024, followed by two potential new satellites, Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5, reinforce this direction and present unique growth opportunities.

“We are also working to progress previously announced initiatives with local and international partners targeting areas including satellite-enabled internet of things, vertical value-chain integration, satellite direct-to-device and earth observation. The satellite industry is witnessing substantial investments as exciting new products and applications are brought to the market whilst the largest satellite operators consolidate to confront the transforming, competitive landscape. Our unique backlog of future revenues, reaching AED 7 billion or 4.4 times last twelve-month revenues, as well as a robust balance sheet place us in a strong position to drive our future ambitions and continue delivering sustainable long-term growth,” he added.

Categories: Articles, Business, Results

Tags: Abu Dhabi, satellite, satellite communications, yahsat