By Stuart Thomson
Satellite operator SES saw its core video revenues fall by 5.5 per cent in the course of last year, even as overall revenue rose by 9.1 per cent, boosted by growth in its networks business.
Video revenue of €1.02 billion(US$1.08billion) represented a reduction of 5.5 per cent year-on-year including the planned impact of lower US wholesale revenue and periodic revenue of €10 million in Q1.
Excluding these two items, Video was 4.4 per cent lower than 2021 as lower volumes in mature markets were partially offset by growth in Sports and Events and German video platform HD+, according to the operator.
The changing nature of the satellite business also saw SES take an impairment charge of €397 million that “reflects the impact of higher discount rates on the net book value of intangibles and GEO satellites”
However, this was lower than the equivalent impairment for the prior year of €724 million.
At the end of December, SES delivered more than 8,000 TV channels to 369 million TV homes around the world, including some 3,200 HD TV channels. 73 per cent of total TV channels are broadcast in MPEG-4 with an additional 7 per cent broadcast in HEVC, it said.
SES’s adjusted EBITDA of €1,105 million excluded US C-band income from its clearance of C-band spectrum, net of operating expenses, of €154 million, a reduction from the previous year’s C-band income of €779 million.
““I am pleased with our execution and resulting accomplishments in 2022. Revenue growth of 9 per cent includes strong recovery in Cruise and Aviation, as well as the acquisition of DRS GES. Revenue and EBITDA were in line with our financial outlook while cash generation was enhanced by accelerated C-Band clearing for Verizon, generating US$170 million in 2022,” said CEO Steve Collar.
