Inmarsat struggles to go it alone

Following the ‘will they, won’t they?’ takeover palaver which has encircled Inmarsat (ISAT) and its US-peer EchoStar recently, the British telecoms group could have done with a decent set of half-year results. That was not to be. Adjusted post-tax profits crashed 32 per cent to $76m in the first six months of the year, after rising finance costs and depreciation charges hammered margins. Include the impact of a $207m liability on the group’s 2023 convertible bond, and Inmarsat crashed into a net loss position.