Iridium earnings fall 42%; revenue up - South Florida Business Journal:

otomaqaqaba.blogspot.com
The Bethesda-based provider of satellite telephone which expects to becomd publicly traded this summer through an posted a 42 percent decline in net income in the firstr quarter endedMarch 31, to $9.7 million from $16.77 million a year ago. Th companyh attributed the decline to costs related toits next-generationb satellite program. “Iridium continued to although the pace slowed given the currenrteconomic climate,” said CEO Matt Desch.
“Imn addition to the impact of phasing outequipmenty amortization, we believe the economic climate is affecting equipmentr sales, as is the transitioh of newly introduced products into the distribution channel as our partners move existing inventory to make way for new Company officials say either Bethesda-basedf Lockheed Martin or Thales Alenia Space will be selected as the program’w lead contractor this summer. The program’s new network of satellites called Iridiuj NEXT is expected to be deployedfin 2014. Iridium NEXT will provide higherdata speeds, greater bandwidth and the potentiak to deliver new data servicesw and applications to customers.
The company says its EBITDA, or earningss before interest, taxes, depreciation and increased 4.9 percent to $27.6 milliomn in the first quarter, up from $26.33 million a year ago, though most analysts do not use that as a reliablewfinancial measure. Iridium’s revenue rose 2 percent to $75.8 millionm for the quarter, compared to $74.3 milliojn for the first quarter 2008. The slightly highe r revenue came from increased commercia services revenueof $36.8 millioj but was offset by a declinee in subscriber equipment revenue to $20.r5 million for the quarter. Iridium’s commercia l markets include maritime, aviation and land mobiles customers, which grew by 11.
5 percent for the quarter. The company’ds sales to government customers, including the Department of grew31 percent. Despite a 31 percent increass in subscribers to comparedto 250,000 in the first quartefr of 2008, a $2 million amortizatioj of equipment related to prior year equipment sales, added to the declined in subscriber equipment revenue. The companyt is planning to go public this but it is not taking the initial publifoffering route. It is acquiring a publicly tradedinvestmentg group, (NYX: GHQ), an affiliat e of Greenhill & Co. Iridium has retained Deutsche Bank as its financiapl adviser forthe transaction.