OTTAWA – Telesat reported consolidated revenues of $232 million in the first three months of 2018, compared to $235 million in the same period in 2017.
During the quarter, the U.S. dollar was approximately 5% weaker against the Canadian dollar than it was during the first quarter of 2016 and, which impacted its U.S. dollar revenues. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange rate changes, revenue increased by 2% ($4 million) compared to the same period in 2017, says the satellite owner/operator’s press release.
Operating expenses of $38 million for the quarter were 31% ($17 million) lower than the same period in 2017, or 29% ($16 million) lower excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates. The decrease in operating expenses was primarily due to a decrease in compensation and employee benefits expense arising from a special payment of $12 million made during the first quarter of 2017 to stock option holders in connection with a return of capital to Telesat’s shareholders, reads the release.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $195 million, an increase of 1% ($3 million) compared to the same period in 2017 and an increase of 4% ($8 million) when adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes. The Adjusted EBITDA margin for the first quarter of 2018 was 83.9%, compared to 81.9% in the same period in 2017.
Telesat’s net loss for the quarter was $15 million compared to net income of $88 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The $103 million difference was the result of a higher non-cash loss on foreign exchange arising principally from the translation of Telesat’s U.S. dollar denominated debt into Canadian dollars in the first quarter of 2018, reads the release.
“Our results underscore the stability of our business, underpinned by our substantial contractual backlog, as well as our strong operating discipline,” said president and CEO Dan Goldberg. “Beyond the financial results, we continue to make progress on our planned Telstar 18 Vantage (pictured is an artist's rendition) and Telstar 19 Vantage satellites, which we anticipate will launch mid this year. In addition, we successfully launched and deployed our first Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite to support the development of our planned state-of-the-art, high capacity LEO constellation that will deliver transformative, low latency, fiber-like broadband to commercial and government users worldwide.
