Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has posted a record 50.3% rise in net profit to ?70.6m at the close of its 2009 fiscal year, driven by the successful launch of Amazonas 2 spacecraft.
The company said it had been helped by the diversification of its…
Spanish satellite operator Hispasat has posted a record 50.3% rise in net profit to ?70.6m at the close of its 2009 fiscal year, driven by the successful launch of Amazonas 2 spacecraft.
The company said it had been helped by the diversification of its business lines to record ?150.8m in accumulated revenue as of 31 December, and an increase in EBITDA to more than ?116m. This gave the company an EBIDTA of margin 80.6%, excluding the effects of temporary capacity subcontracting in other satellite systems.
The fiscal year 2009 also saw Hispasat pay off more than ?34.7m in bank debt, resulting in a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.8 times as of December 31, 2009. The debt included the last tranche of financing for the manufacture of the Amazonas
2 satellite.
Chairwoman Petra Mateos said the best operations and financial results of Hispasat’s history were partly thanks to the launch last October of Amazonas 2, which has been in operation since December 2009.
The company said that the incorporation of Amazonas 2’s capacity doubled the service over America from the 61W orbital position. This helped significantly improve its coverage to the lucrative US and Mexican markets.
In an effort to replicate this success, Hispasat has commissioned Space Systems/Loral to manufacture a new spacecraft. The satellite manufacturer built Amazonas 2.
Amazonas 3 will replace and expand on Amazonas 1 at the 61W orbital slot and is scheduled to be launched in 2012. The new satellite will be capable of operating up to 33 simultaneous Ku-band transponders and 19 simultaneous C-band transponders over Europe and North and South America.
Hispasat parent subject to buyout rumours
As Hispasat announces record growth, its majority owner, the Spanish infrastructure and telecommunications group Abertis Infraestructuras, has allegedly been the subject of a leveraged buyout attempt from the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and its two controlling shareholders, the Spanish builder Actividades de Construccion y Servicios (ACS), which owns 25.8%, and the Criteria unit of Catalan savings bank La Caixa, with 28.5%.
According to various news reports, the consortium planned to buy-out the remaining minority shareholders in Abertis and were in the process of securing ?5.3bn in debt financing to support the deal. However, the agreed bank funding seemingly fell through and the deal was postponed. The planned LBO valued Abertis at as much as ?26bn.
CVC is now said to be seeking to snap up a 20% stake in Abertis from ACS for between ?1-1.5bn. The sponsor is reportedly seeking to gain board representation in order to push for a significant restructure of Abertis.
The Spanish infrastructure giant has sizeable satellite interests, owning approximately 33.47% of Hispasat and it also owns 32% of global satellite operator Eutelsat.
