[Satellite Today 03-18-09] Loral Space & Communications Inc. reported a net loss of $692.9 million in 2008, the company announced March 17. The losses were mainly attributed to non-cash charges arising from the acquisition of Telesat, which was completed in October 2007.
    Telesat’s 2008 revenues were $685.2 million with adjusted EBITDA at $427.2 million — on target with expectations, Loral said.
    Loral CEO Michael Targoff said tighter financing due to the weakened economy also made an impact on losses. “In light of the difficult economic times, we are gratified to have many substantial creditworthy customers. Our significant backlog provides important cushion, at least in the near term, from the impact that the world financial crisis may have on new orders,” Targoff said in a statement.
    Satellite manufacturing unit Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) posted a 31 percent increase in its 2008 adjusted EBITDA compared to its 2007 results. SS/L’s 2008 revenue was $881.4 million, an 8 percent increase over 2007 revenues of $814.3 million.
    The satellite backlog at SS/L includes NSS-14 for SES, QuetzSat-1 for EchoStar, a digital networking satellite for ViaSat and a satellite for Hispasat.