[Satellite TODAY 09-09-09] Orbcomm reported its total revenues for the 2009 second quarter were $6.8 million – a 1.5 percent drop from the second quarter of 2008, the company announced Sept. 8. According to Orbcomm, the drop is caused by a $1.1 million product sales decline from its Japanese subsidiary, Stellar, which it has discontinued.
In its 2009 second-quarter results, released Sept. 8, the company also reported a 17 percent increase in service revenues to $6.7 million over 2008 and adjusted EBITDA of $1.3 million. Orbcomm said the revenue boost is primarily due to an increase in billable subscriber communicators and revenue from Automatic Identification System (AIS) service.
But, the company said its costs and expenses in the quarter rose $200,000 to $7.9 million resulting in an operating loss of $1.1 million, compared to a $0.8 million loss in the second quarter of 2008, largely driven by higher depreciation expense and in-orbit insurance expense, the company said.
“Excluding the non-recurring items during the quarter, Adjusted EBITDA would have been more than $500,000 higher on service revenue growth of almost 17 percent … As we had expected, Orbcomm returned to generating positive Adjusted EBITDA and reported our best EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA results on record,” said CFO Robert Costantini, in a statement.
Despite the loss, Orbcomm reports it has more than 483,000 billable subscriber communicators, a 14.9 percent increase over the second quarter of 2008 and expects to surpass 500,000 total billable subscribers this year.
Orbcomm signed a deal with SpaceX on Sept. 4 to launch its new constellation. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. However, analysts have speculated that the contract is worth a fixed $47 million.
Related Stories-
SpaceX Wins Orbcomm Contract to Launch 18-Satellite Constellation Satellite Today September 4, 2009
Report: Commercial Satellite Market Will Stay Strong for Next 10 Years Satellite News July 28, 2009
Orbcomm Loses $7 Million on Quick Launch Setbacks Satellite Today May 13, 2009
