SES posted revenue of €478.5 million — €331.8 million from video and €146.5 million from networks – with EBIDTA of €307.5 million and EBIDTA margin of 64.3 percent and operating profit margin of 29.8 percent in Q3 2017.

In Q3 2016, SES recorded revenue of €527.4 million — €350.7 million from video and €160 million from networks – with EBIDTA of €350.3 million and EBIDTA margin of 66.4 percent and operating profit margin of 33.6 percent

SES reported revenue of €1,527.2 million (+2.5 percent), EBITDA margin of 65.1 percent, operating profit margin of 29.4 percent and net profit of €394.5 million (+20 percent) in the first nine months of 2017.

SES Video generated revenue of €1,031.5 million (+1.1 percent), while SES Networks generated €490 million (+12.7 percent) in nine months. SES Video contributes 68 percent of its total revenue, while SES Networks’s revenue contribution is 32 percent in the quarter.
Karim Michel Sabbagh, President and CEO, said: “SES has continued to make steady progress in executing its strategy and investing for the future in growth markets where we have a competitive advantage.”

SES’s contract backlog was €7.5 billion against €8 billion in 30 September 2016. The substantial backlog is the result of the commercial activity across SES Video and SES Networks.

SES said the 5.4 percent reduction in SES Video in Q3 2017, reflected the changes in satellite health to AMC-9 as previously announced in July 2017 and lower periodic revenues. The combined impact of these items was around €11 million, while the non-renewals in MX1 of around €7 million also contributed to lower overall revenue.

Total TV channels grew 6 percent to 7,743 TV channels with increases in all three of SES’s major regions – Europe, North America and International.

Financial Outlook

SES Video revenue is expected to decline slightly in FY 2017 due to the temporary impact of the changes in launch schedule and satellite health.

SES Networks continues to invest in building differentiated capabilities focused on fast-growing network segments and is developing opportunities that optimally fit the business differentiated capabilities in terms of scope and long-term growth.

SES is now anticipating a moderate decline in Fixed Data, representing a marked improvement from a decline of 20 percent in FY 2016. SES expects strong growth in Mobility and stable to slight growth in Government as previously foreseen.

SES’s future revenue will benefit from the contribution of recently added and forthcoming GEO-MEO investments, planned to be launched by the end of 2019. These investments are expected to generate incremental annualised revenue of between €650 million and €750 million.

SES’s capital expenditure (Capex) in FY 2017 is expected to be €180 million lower than previously foreseen in February 2017 from €810 million to €630 million due to changes in launch timing, lower uncommitted Capex. SES said it will grow Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) to over 10 percent in the medium term.