SES headquarters in Luxembourg. Photo: SES

SES reported 1.7 billion euro ($2 billion) in revenue for the first nine months of 2025. Government revenue was one of the highlights of the first nine months, but SES also reported some delays in contract awards due to the U.S. government shutdown. This was first time reporting combined revenue after the Intelsat acquisition. Revenue increased nearly 20% year-over-year, at constant foreign exchange rate. 

However, on a like-for-like basis, the nine months of revenue dipped 1.8% year-over-year. CFO Lisa Pataki told investors that strong growth in Aviation and Government segments outpaced lower revenues in Fixed Broadband, due to a challenging competitive environment. Pataki noted that Media declined as expected, with the segment feeling the impact of Brazilian customer Oi’s bankruptcy. 

CEO Adel Al-Saleh elaborated on the business factors that influenced the dip in revenue on a like-for-like basis. 

“In Aviation, we’re working through the backlog of ESA antenna implementations, which come with equipment revenue, diluting profitability before enabling higher margin service revenue. There are also some timing differences between onboarding new customers and new planes and decommissioning some of the airline customers,” Al Saleh said Thursday.  

“In government, we have seen timing impacts, namely due to the U.S. budget delays at the start of the year, contract rationalization by the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and postponement of large contracts in part due to the U.S. government shutdown,” he added. 

Leadership was overall bullish on the government segment during the call. Pataki elaborated on the impact of the U.S. government shutdown. “The U.S. government is a very good profitable customer for us,” Pataki said. “But with timing delays, we are seeing certain awards and renewals push out into 2026. We may see a little bit of pickup in Q4 with the U.S. government, but it really depends a little bit about when the government shutdown resolves itself.”

Media revenue for the nine month period of 686 million euro ($792 million) accounted for close to 40% of group revenue.

The Networks business makes up around 60% of group revenue at 1.1 billion euro ($1.2 billion). Networks revenue increased 36% year-on-year, and also increased on a like-for-like basis, with growth coming from Aviation and Government. 

In the first nine months of the year, SES secured 1.4 billion euro ($1.6 billion) in renewals and new customer contracts, with the majority coming from growth segments. Gross backlog stands at 7.1 billion euro ($8.2 billion).

While SES raised the full-year outlook for the combined company, the increased missed market expectations, according to Reuters.