Viasat Q1 revenue up 36%
August 10, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Viasat had an impressive Q1 and reported revenue of $780 million (€707.6m) – up 36 per cent on the same period last year. Chairman Mark Dankberg said that the company was working with its antenna supplier (Northrop Grumman) and was looking to remedy the problems with its ViaSat 3 Americas satellite.
If its ViaSat 3 Americas satellite is eventually declared a loss then the company has a potential $420 million insurance claim on the craft which has a value of about $750 million.
Viasat reported a net loss of $77 million for the quarter-year, wider than a net loss of $21.6 million a year ago. It cited higher interest expenses, as well as costs related to its acquisition of Inmarsat. As of the end of quarter, Viasat had $5.5 billion in net debt, with about $2 billion in cash and equivalents.
Dankberg, in his usual letter to shareholders, said it is investigating the basic cause of the ViaSat-3 Americas problem to determine how to avoid the issue on its upcoming ViaSat-3 EMEA satellite. Beyond a problematic reflector, which appears to have been made by Northrop Grumman, Viasat stressed that the Americas satellite’s other systems “are performing as expected, or better.”
Viasat, helped by the acquisition of the Inmarsat fleet, now has 22 satellites in orbit. However, Viasat confirmed that it would see a decline of the existing consumer focussed broadband services. Consumer revenues represent some 13 per cent of Viasat’s current revenues but this would decline, said Viasat.
Viasat’s full statement regarding the problems with ViaSat-3 Americas read: “The ViaSat-3 F1 antenna anomaly creates unanticipated challenges that we are already addressing. The affected antenna was from a commercial product line of a leading space supplier with a decades long track record of successful space deployment. Antennas from that product line are deployed on numerous prior missions, including on several Inmarsat satellites. We understand the risks involved in space systems, and have insurance. Among the benefits of the Inmarsat acquisition is access to an existing, and forthcoming global Ka-band satellite fleet that can be a key factor in enabling sustained growth, while achieving our very high level of global mobility performance for our customers, despite the ViaSat-3 F1 antenna anomaly. In addition, we had also executed bandwidth supply contracts with other Ka-band broadband operators/partners as a precaution in the event of delays or other possible complications with ViaSat-3 F1. We are currently working closely with our antenna supplier to assess the status of the antenna. Our near-term objectives, working with the antenna manufacturer and our satellite supplier, are to perform a root cause analysis and determine corrective actions for the antenna on ViaSat-3 F2. We have also begun analysing and assessing the performance of ViaSat-3 F1 with the affected antenna. To date, all other activated subsystems, including the innovative space payload technology and ground infrastructure designed and built by Viasat, are performing as expected, or better, in end-to-end measurements.”