Eutelsat Group reports 3.7% revenue growth in Q2

Eutelsat Group ETL.PA posted a 3.7% increase in second-quarter revenue on Friday, boosted by its geostationary satellite business, though delays in the deployment of its ground network weighed on results.

The group, formed by the September merger of French satellite firm Eutelsat and Britain’s OneWeb, posted revenue in the second quarter ending on Dec. 31 of 298.7 million euros ($321.40 million), it said.

The group in January cut its targets for its 2023-2024 financial year as OneWeb’s low earth orbit (LEO) activities were running behind schedule, fuelling concerns that rivals like Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper could beat OneWeb to the punch.

“Delays in the availability of the ground network have impacted revenues, with a mix more oriented towards the sale of user terminals affecting margins,” Chief Executive Eva Berneke said in a statement.

Berneke said the group sees strong commercial traction with several deals with major customers and she anticipates an acceleration in OneWeb’s revenues in the coming months.

OneWeb’s order backlog grew 23% from the previous quarter to 700 million euros.

In the first six months of its fiscal year, operating vertical revenues grew up 1.2% on a like-for-like basis, to 571.1 million euros, boosted by its GEO business with EUTELSAT 10B and KONNECT VHTS sattelites. On a reported basis, the figure dropped 1.9%.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) dropped 12.7% from last year to 365.6 million euros in the first six months of its fiscal year. Reuters