Iridium Reports Strong Growth in the Second Quarter and Raises All Elements of Guidance for 2010
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MCLEAN, Va., Aug. 9, 2010 - Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. The following reflects the results of Iridium Communications Inc. (the Company) for the second quarter of 2010 compared to those of Iridium Holdings LLC (predecessor) for the second quarter of 2009. Please see the combined results, along with the appropriate related footnotes, in the attachments to this press release.
Operating Highlights - Second Quarter 2010
The following are highlights of Iridium's second quarter 2010 financial performance:
o Total billable subscribers grew 16.8%, reaching approximately 383,000 - up from approximately 328,000 at the end of the comparable quarter last year. Growth occurred across all product areas.
o Commercial service revenue increased 13.8% to $45.5 million in the second quarter compared to $40.0 million during the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of the year, commercial service revenue was up 12.5% over the first half of 2009.
o Government voice and machine-to-machine (M2M) data service revenue increased 7.1% to $14.2 million in the second quarter compared to $13.3 million in the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of the year, government voice and M2M data service revenue was up 5.1% over the first half of 2009.
o Subscriber equipment revenue for the second quarter decreased to $20.3 million compared to $24.6 million in the second quarter of 2009, in part due to a global parts supply issue that delayed some shipments to customers, to a change in the mix of equipment sales to lower- cost M2M devices, and to lower overall device pricing. For the first half of the year, subscriber equipment revenue was down 6.6% over the first half of 2009.
o Total revenue increased to $84.0 million in the second quarter compared to $82.7 million during the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of 2010, revenue increased 4.6% over the first half of 2009.
o Net income for the second quarter was $3.2 million compared to net income of $28.6 million for the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of the year, net income was $1.9 million compared to $38.3 million in the first half of 2009, in part reflecting $11.8 million and $30.2 million, respectively, of non-cash expenses related to purchase accounting adjustments in those periods, net of tax, related to GHL Acquisition Corp.'s acquisition of Iridium Holdings LLC.
o Operational EBITDA was $36.2 million in the second quarter compared with $37.1 million in the second quarter of 2009, primarily driven by lower equipment revenues. For the first half of the year, Operational EBITDA was up 7.0% over the first half of 2009 (see a reconciliation to net income in the attached tables).
"The last few months have been the most transformative ever in the life of Iridium," said Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium. "We are near completing our financing through a very attractive $1.8 billion Coface-backed facility, and we are pleased that we cleared a critical hurdle by receiving preliminary commitments from banks in excess of that amount. We selected Thales Alenia Space as our prime contractor and they are already underway with developing our satellites. We announced a very favorably-priced launch services contract with SpaceX and witnessed their inaugural Falcon 9 launch. And, we lowered our operational costs through new contracts with Boeing. Achieving these milestones firmly places Iridium on the path that we have charted with world- class partners to support us going forward."
Link: http://investor.iridium.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=497768
