SES reports revenue of €899 mn and contract backlog of €5.1 bn

SES has reported revenue of €899 million (+2.8 percent) and Adjusted EBITDA of €545 million (flat) for the six months ended 30 June 2022.
SES satellite businessVideo revenue was €501 million representing a reduction of 7.0 percent including the planned impact of lower US wholesale revenue.

At 30 June 2022, SES delivers 8,028 total TV channels to 366 million TV homes, including 3,092 High Definition TV channels. 72 percent of total TV channels are broadcast in MPEG-4 with an additional 6 percent broadcast in HEVC.

Networks revenue was €387 million representing a growth of 2.1 percent compared with H1 2021 with growth in Mobility (of +16.0 percent) and Fixed Data (of +2.8 percent), while the rapid US withdrawal from Afghanistan in Q3 2021 contributed to lower Government (-7.5 percent) albeit with new business wins in Global Government supporting positive quarter-on-quarter performance.

SES said contract backlog at 30 June 2022 was €5.1 billion (€5.8 billion gross backlog including backlog with contractual break clauses).

Capital expenditure outlook is also unchanged and expected to be €950 million in 2022 with an average of €460 million for 2023-2026.

Steve Collar, CEO of SES, said: “Our Networks business delivered growth of 2 percent and this trajectory will be strengthened by important wins with ARSAT and AXESS Networks, agreements signed with Explora Journeys and another leading cruise provider reinforcing our leading position in cruise, and the entry into service of SES-17 which is now operational and delivering commercial services to customers.”

In March 2022, SES secured an agreement to expand access for telecom operator Verizon to the 3700-3800 MHz C-band block in certain US markets beyond those cleared in Phase I and earlier than the deadline for Phase II clearing. SES will earn additional payments of up to $170 million.