Despite a drop in 2015 first-quarter revenue, Telesat president and CEO Dan Goldberg said Thursday the company is positioned well for future growth.
“Our first-quarter revenue and EBITDA were lower than the same period last year principally as a result of the fact that certain short-term satellite services we provided to other satellite operators in 2014 did not recur in the first quarter of this year,” Mr. Goldberg said in a statement.
Revenue for the three months ending March 31 was $229 million, down five per cent from the same period last year. When adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes, revenue declined 10 per cent.
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Operating expenses for the quarter were $45 million, four per cent lower than the first quarter of 2014 or nine per cent lower considering foreign exchange rate changes.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $186 million, down six per cent or 11 per cent with foreign exchange rate changes considered. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 81 per cent for the first quarter of 2015 compared with 82 per cent for the same period in 2014.
Telesat’s net loss for the quarter was $154 million, up from $28 million for the same period last year. The company said this was due to lower operating income as well as a non-cash loss on foreign exchange from changing Telesat’s U.S. dollar debt into Canadian dollars.
“Our satellite expansion plans combined with our industry-leading contractual backlog provides visibility into the stability of our future revenue and cash flow and positions us well for future growth,” Mr. Goldberg said.
As of March 31, Telesat had a contracted backlog for future services of about $4.6 billion.
