Eutelsat reported a total revenue of €300 million for the third quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year performance released on Thursday, which was 1.9 percent lower than the same period last year.
With the exception of “Other Revenues”, the combined revenues of the four operating verticals were €300.6 million, declining by 2 percent on a like-for-like basis compared to the previous year.
Quarter-on-quarter, revenues of the four Operating Verticals were down 3.1 percent like-for-like (that is at constant currency and perimeter).
Q3 Video revenue amounted to €151.7 million
Video revenues for the third quarter came to €151.7 million, a 6.4 percent decrease from the previous year, which was consistent with the general market trend.
Revenues decreased 4.8 percent on a quarter-over-quarter basis in Q2, which was a result of some contracts’ revenue recognition becoming linear.
Regarding business, Eutelsat extended its video capacity contract with ATSS, a long-time partner in the MENA region. By allocating substantial additional resources to the flagship HOTBIRD constellation at 13°East, Eutelsat further expanded its services for professional video.
In other news, Eutelsat extended capacity leased on EUTELSAT 21B and EUTELSAT 70B, strengthening its collaboration with UAE-based content-distribution expert BHS for satellite contribution services throughout the Middle East to North Africa.
Eutelsat is putting into practice EU Regulation 269/2014, which prohibits the denial of resources to Russian entities. The French regulator, ARCOM, has been applying this regulation to specific media groups since March 2025.
After JSC National Media Group’s STS and Kanal 5 channels were recently removed from Eutelsat’s capacity, the company is currently working to remove additional channels under its control as well as those under VGTRK’s control.
Before any mitigating measures are taken, the estimated annual impact of the removal of these channels on the Group’s revenues is currently around €16 million, and the EBITDA impact is comparable. The timing of this action means that it has very little effect on Eutelsat’s FY 2024–2025 goals.
Q3 total connectivity stood at €148.9 million
The third quarter’s total connectivity revenues were €148.9 million, up 2.7 percent year over year and down 1.3 percent quarter over quarter.
Revenues from fixed connectivity increased 0.8 percent year over year to €59.7 million in the third quarter. They primarily represented the ongoing expansion of LEO-enabled connectivity solutions on the one hand, and the increasingly difficult circumstances for GEO-enabled consumer broadband in Europe on the other. Of particular note was the termination of revenue recognition from a particular customer on the KONNECT-VHTS satellite.
Due to the previously mentioned cessation of revenue recognition from a GEO customer and the one-time impact of catch-up revenues from an LEO customer in Q2, revenues decreased 7.3 percent quarter-on-quarter.
Regarding commercials, EUTELSAT KONNECT’s capacity transfer to the African market is now complete. A multi-year partnership with Orange Africa and the Middle East for connectivity in Africa and the Middle East is one example of how the additional capacity has been dynamically embraced.
In a related development, Eutelsat and InterSAT extended their current capacity contract on EUTELSAT 70B and signed a new multi-year agreement for Ku capacity on EUTELSAT 7C for the delivery of fixed data services over Central and Eastern Africa. The addition of LEO capacity for East Africa is being discussed by the two businesses.
Q3 government services revenue rose to €49.5 million
Revenues from government services increased 10.2 percent year over year to €49.5 million in the third quarter. This was primarily due to the rise in demand from non-US governments and the growth in revenues from LEO-enabled solutions. Revenues decreased 4.2 percent from quarter to quarter, primarily as a result of a slowdown in GEO operations.
The estimated renewal rate for the Spring 2025 renewal campaign with the US Department of Defence was less than 50 percent, which is lower than the high rates of the preceding quarters.
It reflects the shift in the Defence department’s geographic priorities under the new presidential administration, along with the broader backdrop of attempts to reduce government spending in general. Specifically, it starts the process of not renewing a significant contract.
Q3 mobile connectivity revenue of €39.7 million
Mobile connectivity revenues for the third quarter were €39.7 million, a 2.7 percent year-over-year decline that was partially offset by rising demand for LEO-based solutions and lower GEO revenues. The ramp-up on LEO was the main driver of the 14.3 percent quarterly increase in revenues.
With more than 100 certified antenna installations already completed out of a backlog of nearly 1,000 aircraft and the first aircraft now in service, Eutelsat has confirmed the traction of LEO-enabled services for commercial and business aviation.
Through important partners like Intelsat, Hughes, Panasonic, and Gogo, Eutelsat is providing multi-orbit connectivity in addition to its GEO offering. Using Intelsat, Air Canada was the first airline to implement the multi-orbit GEO/LEO service.
The deployment of KONNECT VHTS capacity for the mobility market is also moving forward nicely, particularly with a new multi-year, multi-million-dollar agreement with Türksat for Ka-band services.
In addition, Eutelsat signed a multi-year, multimillion-dollar extension to its capacity agreement with Panasonic on EUTELSAT 10B. Both demonstrate the continued relevance of cutting-edge GEO capability to provide premium, reasonably priced in-flight connectivity services.
Q3 Other Revenues decreased to -€0.7 million
In the third quarter, “Other Revenues” came to -€0.7 million, down from €3.3 million in the second quarter and €0.5 million in the previous year.
They included a negative impact of €3.1 million from hedging operations, as opposed to a positive impact of €0.3 million in the second quarter and a negative impact of €1.1 million the previous year.
As of March 31, 2025, the backlog was €3.6 billion, down from €3.9 billion the previous year and €3.7 billion at the end of December 2024. The decrease indicates that, in the absence of significant renewals, the backlog has naturally eroded, particularly in the video segment. It amounted to 3.0 times FY 2024 revenues, of which 57 percent came from connectivity.
Eutelsat generates €906.2 million in 9 months
Revenues for the first nine months of FY 2024–25 were €906.2 million, up 2.2 percent at constant currency and perimeter and 3.7 percent on a reported basis.
With the exception of “Other Revenues”, the revenues of the four Operating Verticals increased 1.8 percent on a like-for-like basis, excluding a €5.0 million positive currency effect.
Future outlook
On its future outlook, Eutelsat stated, “On the back of the performance of the first Nine Months, we confirm our objectives for the Full Year 2024-25 of Operating Vertical Revenues around the same level as FY 20245 and adjusted EBITDA margin slightly below the level of FY 20246.”
In other areas, gross capital expenditure is still anticipated to be between €500 and €600 million in FY 2024–2025. Eutelsat also maintains its medium-term leverage target of c.3x.
Appointment of Jean-François Fallacher as new CEO
On May 5, Eutelsat appointed Jean-François Fallacher its new CEO. According to the Nomination and Governance Committee’s recommendation, the appointment was approved at a board meeting on May 4, effective June 1.