P
R
/23/10





FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR THIRD QUARTER 2009-2010



EUTELSAT COMMUNICATIONS REPORTS 13.4% REVENUE GROWTH IN THIRD QUARTER 2009-2010

AND REVISES UPWARD ANNUAL REVENUE GUIDANCE





Paris, May 10, 2010 – Eutelsat Communications (ISIN: FR0010221234 - Euronext Paris: ETL), one of the world’s leading satellite operators, today reported financial information for the third quarter and nine months ended March 31, 2010.



Revenues by business application:


3rd quarter ended March 31

Change

9 months ended March 31

Change

In millions of euros

2009

2010

in %

2009

2010

in %

Video Applications

172.3

189.6

+10.0%

508.9

551.0

+8.3%

Data & Value Added Services

42.3

52.0

+22.8%

126.6

148.4

+17.2%

Multi-usage

19.7

25.1

+27.5%

54.7

69.6

+27.3%

Others

2.2

1.6

NM

9.9

7.4

NM

Total

236.5

268.3

+13.4%1

700.0

776.3

+10.9%2



Commenting on the Group’s third quarter 2009-2010 revenue, Michel de Rosen, CEO of Eutelsat Communications said:


With a strategy focused on expanding satellite resources for regions with the strongest potential for expansion, Eutelsat has achieved double-digit sales growth across its entire portfolio of services for the third quarter of its financial year. This remarkable performance is a result of the sustained increase in demand in the regions covered by our fleet, and the increase in satellite capacity we have achieved with our new satellites as well as rapid redeployment of existing in-orbit resources. It reaffirms the strength of Eutelsat’s unique position as a supra-regional satellite operator, leader in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.”


Encouraged by the nine-month revenue growth, we have revised our full-year top-line guidance upward, from more than €1 020 million to above €1 035 million.”








THIRD QUARTER REVENUE ANALYSIS



Note: Unless otherwise stated, all growth indicators or comparisons are made against the third quarter of the previous fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. The share of each application as a percentage of total revenues is calculated excluding “Other revenues”.



The excellent sales performance achieved across all applications reflects the execution of the first phase of Eutelsat’s significant in-orbit expansion programme, which has been marked since February 2009 by the entry into service of five new satellites and the redeployment of six existing satellites. Designed to increase in-orbit security at the Group’s flagship HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood, and to consolidate five other orbital positions serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa, these additional resources have also raised the overall flexibility of the fleet.



VIDEO APPLICATIONS (71.1% of revenues)

The robust revenue growth (+10.0%) registered by Video Applications was driven by:

At March 31, 2010, Eutelsat’s satellites were carrying 3,539 channels, marking an increase of 12.3% during the last 12 months.



DATA and VALUE-ADDED SERVICES (19.5% of revenues)

Revenue from Data and Value-Added Services grew significantly, +22.8% during the quarter. This robust growth was sustained by the full commercial availability of W2A from May 2009, and of W7. The strong coverage of Africa and the Middle East provided by both satellites has notably strengthened the Group’s position in markets experiencing high demand for satellite resources for telecom and broadband services. Quarterly highlights include:



MULTI-USAGE (9.4% of revenues)

Multi-usage services (up 27.5%) continued to benefit from strong demand from governments, notably to serve regions in Central Asia and the Middle East.



OTHER REVENUES

The €1.6 million of other revenues included a one-off amount of €0.9 million for late delivery penalties related to the W7 satellite.







FINANCIAL SITUATION UPDATE



On March 19, 2010, Eutelsat S.A., 96% owned by Eutelsat Communications, announced that it had successfully refinanced all existing credit agreements for a total of €1.3 billion which were due in November 2011. This was achieved through:

At the end of March 2010, Eutelsat S.A.’s debt was fully cancelled and reimbursed with the bond proceeds. This refinancing has allowed Eutelsat Communications Group to extend the maturity of its financing from 2.7 years as of December 31, 2009 to 5.3 years as of March 31, 2010.

Eutelsat Group’s credit rating is unchanged at BBB- rating from S&P and Baa3 from Moody’s.



RECENT EVENTS


ictQATAR (representing the State of Qatar) and Eutelsat Communications announced today the signing of a partnership agreement to invest in and operate a new high-capacity satellite at Eutelsat’s 25.5° East location, one of the two longstanding and anchored neighbourhoods serving fast-growing markets in the Middle East and North Africa regions.

To be launched at the end of 2012, the new satellite will provide both a significantly expanded mission and superior coverage and power across the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia to follow-on from Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD™ 2 satellite, which is currently operated at 25.5° East. In addition to securing Ku-band continuity for Eutelsat, and additional Ku-band resources for ictQATAR, it will initiate a Ka-band capability opening business opportunities for both parties.

Eutelsat and ictQatar are scheduled to place the order for the new satellite by the middle of 2010, with launch in late 2012. This programme is part of the capital expenditure plan communicated by Eutelsat Communications for the period 2009-2012.



YEAR-TO-DATE REVENUE (9 months ending March 31, 2010) AND 2009-2010 OUTLOOK


At €776.3 million, year-to-date revenues were up 10.9% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. On the basis of its strong commercial performance over the last nine months, the Group is revising upwards its full year 2009-2010 revenue guidance to more than €1,035 million compared to the previous objective of above €1,020 million.


The Group will provide an update of its medium-term outlook with the announcement of its 2009-2010 full year results, on July 29, 2010.


* * *

Financial calendar

The financial calendar below is provided for information purposes only. It is subject to change and will be regularly updated.



About Eutelsat Communications

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 26 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 31 March 2010, Eutelsat’s satellites were broadcasting more than 3,500 television channels. More than 1,100 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East which serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group’s satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates access to high speed internet services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ nearly 650 commercial, technical and operational employees from 28 countries.

www.eutelsat.com

For further information



Press



Vanessa O’Connor 

Tel. : + 33 1 53 98 37 91

voconnor@eutelsat.fr

Frédérique Gautier 

Tel. : + 33 1 53 98 37 91 

fgautier@eutelsat.fr

Investors & Analysts



Lisa Sanders Finas 

Tel. : +33 1 53 98 30 92

investors@eutelsat-communications.com

Appendix



Revenue breakdown by application (in percentage of revenues)*


3 months ended 31 March

9 months ended 31 March


2009

2010

2009

2010

Video Applications

73.5%

71.1%

73.7%

71.7%

Data & Value-Added Services

18.1%

19.5%

18.3%

19.3%

……..of which Data Services

14.1%

15.3%

14.1%

15.0%

…….of which Value-Added Services

3.9%

4.1%

4.2%

4.3%

Multi-usage

8.4%

9.4%

8.0%

9.0%

Total

100%

100%

100%

100%

*excluding other revenues and one-off revenues (€2.2 million in Q3 2008-2009 and €1.6 million in Q3 2009-2010,
€9.9 million year-to-date 2008-2009 and €7.4 million year-to-date 2009-2010)

Quarterly revenues by business application


2008-2009

2009-2010

In millions of euros

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Video Applications

166.7

169.8

172.3

170.8

180.8

180.6

189.6

Data & Value-Added Services

41.1

43.2

42.3

46.4

47.7

48.7

52.0

Data Services

31.4

33.1

33.1

36.6

36.9

37.3

40.9

Value-Added Services

9.7

10.1

9.2

9.8

10.7

11.5

11.0

Multi-usage

15.6

19.3

19.7

20.8

22.9

21.5

25.1

Other

3.2

4.5

2.2

2.6

1.7

4.2

1.6

Total

226.7

236.8

236.5

240.5

253.0

255.0

268.3



Estimated satellite launch schedule

Satellite

Expected orbital position

Estimated launch

Transponders

W3B

16° East

August - September 2010

53 Ku / 3 Ka

KA-SAT

9° East

November 2010 – January 2011

> 80 Ka beams

W3C

7° East

June – September 2011

56 Ku

ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7

7° West

September - December 2011

50 Ku

Note: satellites generally enter into service one to two months after launch.





1 At constant exchange rate and excluding one-off revenues, third quarter revenue growth would have been 15.0%

2 At constant exchange rate and excluding one-off revenues, year-to-date revenue growth would have been 12.0%

6