Eutelsat headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. Photo: Eutelsat/Laurent Grandguillot/REA

Revenue from the OneWeb constellation is surging for Eutelsat, and the operator is focusing its future CapEx on Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) assets. This was the key highlight of its six-month results to the end of December, announced, Feb. 13.

In the six months to the end of December, Eutelsat generated connectivity revenues via LEO of 110.5 million euro ($131.2 million), up close to 60% compared to the same stage last year.

The operator is focusing procurement and CapEx on LEO activities, leadership told investors on Friday. Eutelsat has canceled procurement of Flexsat Americas, after a review of the business case. Flexsat was a software-defined satellite Eutelsat ordered from Thales Alenia Space in 2022. This will save $100 million euro in future CapEx, CFO Sébastien Rouge said.

“We didn’t see a viable business case,” Jean-François Fallacher told investors. “The return was going much further down [in the] 2030s with Flexsat America, linked to the fact that we see more new constellations coming.”

Overall connectivity revenues for this period reached 307 million euro ($365 million), a like-for-like increase of close to 12% increase compared to the same stage last year. Interestingly, connectivity revenues now represent close to 56% of Eutelsat’s overall business. Video represents around 44% and seems to be declining with every set of results.

Overall revenues for the six-month period were 591.6 million euro ($702.4 million), which was flat compared to the same period last year. This can be explained by the continue fall of broadcast revenues which are in steady decline. In the six months to the end of December, broadcast revenues reached 266.5 million euro ($316.4 million), a decline of nearly 45 million euro ($53.4 million) compared to the same stage last year.

In other key verticals, growth was more measured. In the government services sector, Eutelsat achieved revenues of 98.6 million euro ($117.1 million) for the six months to the end of December, a near 8% increase compared to the same stage last year. Fixed connectivity saw a significant bump though, reaching 132 million euros ($156.8 million) for the six-month period, a 17%-plus increase on a like-for-like basis compared to the same stage last year.

“We secured the long-term operational continuity and technological evolution of our LEO constellation, reinforcing our ability to serve customers with greater performance and flexibility. With financing secured and our growth strategy clearly on track, we are entering the next phase with confidence, focused on unlocking the full potential of our LEO business and delivering sustainable value for all stakeholders,” Fallacher said in a statement.

Earlier in the week, Eutelsat secured French export credit financing to fund an additional 440 OneWeb satellites.