Page 29 - SAMENA Trends - August 2019

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Eutelsat releases Full Year 2018-19 Results

The Board of Directors of Eutelsat Communications, chaired by savings plan, and the attainment of our Net debt / EBITDA target.
Dominique D’Hinnin, reviewed the financial results for the year By leveraging all elements of cash-generation, we produced a
ended 30 June 2019. further strong rise in Discretionary Free-Cash-Flow, enabling
Main Highlights us to exceed our target a year early. Our efforts remain focused
• Revenues of €1,321 million with Operating Verticals at €1,313 on maximizing cash generation, with the two recent successful
million, down 3.1% like-for-like bond issuances reducing interest by circa €34 million per annum,
• EBITDA margin of 78.4% at constant currency the reduction of over €70 million in our annual tax burden, and a
• Attainment of targeted Net Debt / EBITDA ratio, at 2.98x follow-on cost-savings program aimed at generating additional
• Discretionary Free Cash Flow up 9.6%; three-year objective savings of €20 to 25 million by FY 2021-22. We are setting a new
exceeded a year ahead of schedule Discretionary free cash flow target with an objective of circa €500
• Dividend per share for FY 2019 of €1.27, 1.4 times covered by million in FY 2021-22, and enhancing our remuneration policy by
DFCF maintaining our dividend at 1.27 euros per share and committing
• New DFCF objective of €500 million in FY2021-22 to a share buyback program of at least €100 million by end-June
Rodolphe Belmer Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat 22.”
Communications, said: “On the operational front, the past year
was notable once again for the resilience of core Broadcast,
supported by rising channel count and HD penetration. The
successful launch of EUTELSAT 7C will bring incremental capacity
to the dynamic African market. In Fixed Broadband, our Konnect
Africa operations are now up and running and our new distribution
strategy in Europe is starting to bear fruit. In Mobile Connectivity,
we have carved a strong foothold in the maritime segment with
some major commercial wins. In the context of a challenged
operating environment which continues to weigh on the revenues
of our core businesses, the effective execution of our financial
strategy has enabled us once again to meet or exceed all our other
financial objectives with, notably, a record level of EBITDA margin
supported by the successful completion of our LEAP 1 cost-

Ultra DTH Signs on the EUTELSAT 65 West a Satellite for Coverage in the
Caribbean and the Andean Regions

Ultra DTH Inc. has signed a multiyear, to commercialize its platform across be able to provide multilingual content to
multi-transponder agreement with several markets in the Caribbean and the millions of households. By allowing partner
Eutelsat Americas, a subsidiary of Eutelsat Andean region. These partner operators operators to create a full range of country
Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL), will benefit from Ultra DTH’s expertise for specific line-ups, Ultra DTH aims to unlock
for capacity on the EUTELSAT 65 West A ease of deployment and expansion within previously unexplored markets at all price
satellite to support the launch of a white their markets, while retaining the freedom points. Mike Antonovich, CEO of Eutelsat
label DTH platform across the Caribbean to rebrand the platform to fit the specific Americas, added that the company is
and the Andean region. Ultra DTH will demands of each audience. The low-cost delighted to be joining forces with Ultra
leverage EUTELSAT 65 West A’s Ku-band service will allow payTV operators to give DTH to take payTV further in the Caribbean
coverage to reach millions of households access to content from across the globe, and the Andean region, especially in
in the Caribbean and the Andean territories. combining a unique international offering underserved areas where audiences are
Channel aggregation, encoding and ground with content in English, Spanish, French, eager for content in their native language.
infrastructure will be provided by United Dutch and Hindi to respond to the diverse This agreement highlights the benefits that
Teleports. Strategically headquartered in demand from the Caribbean islands and satellite can bring to sparsely populated
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ultra DTH will rely on Andean region. Ricardo Dias, CEO of Ultra areas with a need for diverse content on a
a network of key country payTV operators DTH, said that the firm’s DTH service will single platform.

29 AUGUST 2019