After taking a big hit early in the pandemic, Ottawa’s C-COM Satellite Systems says it’s on the road to recovery as its revenues rose 40 per cent in fiscal 2021 compared with a year earlier and it swung back into the black after a money-losing 2020.
The firm, which makes antenna technology for next-generation satellites that are poised to deliver high-speed internet to the most remote parts of the planet, said Thursday it posted revenues of $9.15 million for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30, 2021, up from $6.46 million a year earlier.
C-COM (TSX-V: CMI) reported net income of $1.42 million, or four cents per share, in fiscal 2021 after posting a net loss of $213,000 the previous year.
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“Though our recovery is not yet at the pre-COVID heights of fiscal 2019, we were pleased to see a significant increase of revenues in 2021 with corresponding profitability,” C-COM president and CEO Leslie Klein said in a statement.
While Klein noted that the economy is slowly starting to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic, he said the firm isn’t completely out of the woods yet.
He noted that widespread supply chain bottlenecks and rising inflation continue to be a drag on the firm’s recovery. But Klein said he remains “cautiously optimistic” about C-COM’s future prospects, noting the company retains a “healthy balance sheet” with nearly $25 million in available working capital.
Klein said the firm plans to hit the trade show circuit again soon after a two-year absence due to COVID, providing a potential boost to its sales pipeline.
He added that the firm’s latest product – an electronically steered antenna that’s been in development for five years and was officially unveiled last week at the Satellite 2022 conference in Washington, D.C. – is generating “significant” market interest.
C-COM said it successfully tested a prototype of the next-generation antenna on an Anik F3 satellite operated by Ottawa-based Telesat. The firm says the new technology will be capable of operating on low-Earth-orbit satellites being developed by Telesat and other manufacturers that are gearing up to deliver broadband wireless service to customers that currently don’t have reliable access to high-speed internet.
C-COM develops, manufactures and deploys commercial satellite antenna technology that enables high-speed internet, VoIP and video services. It’s particularly focused on remote areas, such as the far north in Canada and Russia as well as deserts in Australia and Saudi Arabia.
The company’s shares have fallen nearly 50 per cent over the past year as tech stocks in general have spiralled. C-COM shares were trading at $2.14 on the TSX Venture Exchange late Thursday afternoon, up four cents on the day.
