[Satellite Today 02-27-09] Hughes Communications revenues improved 9 percent for 2008, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the year for the first time in the company’s history, Hughes announced Feb. 26.
    The company also hit a subscriber record, with gross additions of 170,000 subscribers, a 14 percent over 2007. With 86,000 subscribers on Spaceway 3 at the end of the year, Hughes’ total subscriber count climbs to 433,000.
    In the fourth quarter, Hughes’ consumer service revenue increased by 16 percent, as the company recorded 42,000 gross subscriber adds and churn improved to 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent in third quarter of 2008. The fourth quarter also showed strong adjusted EBITDA of $46.4 million for Hughes Network Services and $45.2 million for Hughes Communications.
The company’s VSAT revenue grew 10 percent in 2008 over 2007, driven by the European and Brazilian service subsidiaries, Hughes said. The company also saw new orders totaling $1.2 billion in 2008 and a non-consumer backlog of $841 million at the end of the year, a growth of 12 percent.
    “I am pleased that we have been able to deliver this strong financial performance in 2008 despite the adverse macroeconomic head winds that accelerated in the third and fourth quarters,” Pradman Kaul, CEO of Hughes, said in a statement. “The stability and growth in our business model derives largely from the diversity of our products, technologies, markets, and geographies, and the continued shift in our business mix from hardware to services. These factors have helped and will continue to help Hughes weather economic downturns. We come into 2009 with a strong backlog, continued demand for broadband access in our consumer market, adequate satellite capacity, and a strong balance sheet to enable continued growth. I continue to be optimistic about our near- and long-term future.”