Even though satellite broadband provider Avanti Communications has continued to sell space in its planned satellite, HYLAS, construction delays at contractor EADS mean that it's already missed this year's planned launch. EADS is paying damages of £1.3m to Avanti, and the launch date is now expected between April and June 2010.
However, chief executive David Williams says the delay will give Avanti the chance to sell more of the satellite's capacity - he aims to sell more than 20 per cent pre-launch, up from the 13 per cent of capacity sold already. Avanti has so far secured a network of 48 distributors, and is so confident in its partners' ability to build subscriber bases rapidly, that it's already considering a second satellite that could triple capacity. In the meantime, it's raised £31.5m through an equity placing and a further €12.5m (£11.3m) from the British government, via the European Space Agency, to fund a critical launch vehicle upgrade for the satellite.
The company also reported a maiden pre-tax profit, but stripping out exchange gains and hedging income meant an operating loss of £1.4m. Broker Cenkos expects pre-tax losses of £1.1m in 2010 and £6.8m in 2011.
AVANTI COMMUNICATIONS (AVN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 394p | MARKET VALUE: | £165m | |
| TOUCH: | 390-405p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 394p | LOW: 154p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 6 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 154p | NET DEBT: | 27% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2.56 | 20.2* | 82.1 | nil |
| 2008 | 5.92 | -1.36 | -3.60 | nil |
| 2009 | 8.04 | 1.80 | 63.8 | nil |
| % change | +36 | - | - | - |
*Includes £23.2m from write-back of inter-company loan due to previous parent company Avanti Screenmedia | ||||
