Asiasat sales and profits dropped in the first half of 2005, the company reported Aug. 24. Sales dropped 19 percent to HK $445 million ($57.2 million) during the first six months of 2005, which ended June 30, compared to HK $551 million ($70.9 million) during the first six months of 2004. Profit slipped to HK $185 million ($23.8 million) in the first half of 2005 from HK $253 million ($32.5 million). The company noted that the financial results, “specifically the comparison between 2004 and 2005 figures, continues to be distorted by the inclusion of a one-time receipt in 2004 for the early termination of a transponder utilization agreement.”

Despite the declines, Asiasat reported that transponder leases and sales were up 14 percent in the first half of 2005, compared to the same period a year ago. But Asiasat Chairman Romain Bausch said the company could struggle throughout the remainder of the year. “The outlook for the rest of 2005 remains unpromising, and it will be difficult to maintain the results for the full year at the level achieved in 2004,” he said in a statement.

The first six months of 2005 “continued to be dominated by intense price competition and price pressure despite distinct indications of economic improvement in some Asia- Pacific markets,” Bausch said. “The imbalance between supply and demand continues to drive acute price competition, and this has affected and will continue to affect our performance.”

Asiasat made no mention of the possible design problem with the Lockheed Martin 7000 series satellite, first reported earlier this month in Intelsat’s quarterly financial update. The company’s Asiasat-2 spacecraft, based on a 7000 series platform, is 42 percent utilized as of June 30. Winnie Pang, corporate affairs manager for Asiasat, recently told Satellite Today that the company continues “to monitor the situation closely” and anticipates that any further findings will help determine the risk of satellite failure and the possible steps to be taken to mitigate the risk.

For more on the problems with the Lockheed Market Series 7000 satellites reported by Intelsat and its potential impact on Asiasat and others, please see the Aug. 15 issue of Satellite News. For more information on subscribing to Access Intelligence’s satellite industry news and information products, please visit us on the web at https://www.satellitetoday.com.