NSE

New Skies Satellites Holdings Ltd. reported Nov. 9 a profit of $6.1 million on revenues of $61.2 million in the third quarter 2005.

“Revenues are 14 percent higher relative to the same period last year, a consequence of the improvement in our fill rate to 63 percent compared to 55 percent a year ago and an environment where pricing has been stable,” Dan Goldberg, CEO of New Skies, said in a statement. “New business and renewals in the quarter were driven in large part by demand from government users as well as corporate network and video requirements.”

In the third quarter of 2004, New Skies earned $2.2 million on revenues of $53.8 million.

New Skies also completed the sale of its Australian subsidiary, New Skies Networks PTY Ltd., to Multiemedia Ltd. for $10 million. New Skies Networks owns and operates two teleports in Adelaide and Perth, Australia, and as part of the transaction, New Skies has agreed to purchase teleport services from Multiemedia. In turn Multiemedia, currently a customer of New Skies through its Newsat satellite services division, has agreed to procure additional satellite capacity on New Skies’ NSS-6 satellite. New Skies will use the net proceeds of the sale to repay a portion of its debt.

New Skies’ share price is once again inching toward the $23 mark (it closed Nov. 10 at $22.75), a mark it has not seen since mid-August, when the rumor that Intelsat was on track to acquire New Skies was at its peak. Now with the stock climbing back to those levels on its own without any acquisition rumors driving the price up, it suggests that investors see a value proposition in the company.

This satellite operator has remained consistent thus far with quarterly dividends, giving shareholders a return on their investment. Plus, the company still comes up prominently in consolidation discussions, so shareholders do have the potential to pick up a premium on their investment above and beyond the general upward movement of the share price.

DISH

Subscriber additions helped Echostar Communica-tions Corp. post a profit of $209 million in the third quarter 2005, more than double the net income of $102 million recorded in the same period in 2004, the company said Nov. 8. Echostar reported 11.7 million subscribers at the end of the most recent quarter, up from 10.5 million at the end of the third quarter 2004.

Revenue improved from $1.9 billion in the third quarter 2004 to $2.1 billion in the third quarter 2005, which ended Sept. 30. The company’s average revenue per user increased from $56.11 in the third quarter 2004 to $57.78 in the third quarter 2005 due to price increases on subscriber packages and higher equipment rental fees. Subscriber acquisition costs grew 25 percent to $402.6 million for the third quarter 2005 due to an increase in the number of non co-branded subscribers acquired in the most recent quarter.

Echostar’s Dish Network direct-to-home satellite television service added 255,000 net new subscribers during the third quarter 2005, down from 350,000 net new subscribers in the third quarter 2004. Echostar attributed the 27 percent drop in net new subscribers to increased churn and the “estimated impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” the company said in its 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Echostar is assessing the impact of the storms on its subscriber base but does not expect any impact on the company’s overall financial position.

Despite the improved financial figures, Echostar’s stock began a downward slide Nov. 8, ultimately dropping $1.01 in three days of trading to $25.91 Nov. 10. Wall Street analysts suggested a number of concerns that appear to be driving the numbers down.

In a Nov. 8 research report, Douglas Shapiro, analyst with Banc of America Securities, attributed the decline “to the consistent message from [Echostar] Chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen that the company is not likely to aggressively repurchase stock anytime soon.”

From a broader perspective, Robert Peck, analyst with Bear Stearns, attributed the downward turn of Echostar shares to a variety of factors. “On the macro front, uncertainty regarding interest rates, housing valuations, inflation, gas and heating prices have negatively impacted consumer sentiment, and media remains a discretionary product hostage to vicissitudes of consumer spending,” Peck said in a Nov. 9 research report. He noted that the Standard & Poors Media Index is down almost 15 percent year to date and despite posting generally positive financial results, both Echostar and DirecTV are trading near 52-week lows. Peck also acknowledged potential market fears of stiff competition from telcos offering video service in competition with cable and direct-to-home satellite service providers as another factor that could be holding the stock down.

WRSP

Worldspace Inc. cut its net loss from $57.3 million in the third quarter 2004 to $15.4 million in the third quarter 2005, the company reported Nov. 7.

Revenue improved from $1.6 million to $2.4 million in the same period due to subscriber gains. Worldspace finished the third quarter 2005 with 75,000 subscribers, adding 11,100 subscribers during the quarter. The company added more than 7,700 subscribers in India during the quarter, where the company has made a major marketing push.

At the end of the third quarter 2004, Worldspace reported 18,700 subscribers.

While it appeared that Worldspace’s stock would finally end its month-long descent near the end of October, when it traded around the $13-mark, the stock resumed its slide, dropping $1.37 the day after the third quarter financial figures were released and losing another 56 cents Nov. 9. Worldspace did recover that loss Nov. 10 to close at $10.99, but it would appear that investors have not yet warmed up to satellite radio on the international market, even though Worldspace did something its domestic counterparts, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio, did not do in the third quarter by actually shrinking its net loss in the quarter.

Worldspace shares likely will remain below the $21 IPO price until the company can show stronger revenue growth and subscription uptake. With much of its marketing efforts focused on India for the moment, that could be a challenge. In previous conversation with Satellite News, Worldspace CEO Noah Samara noted the company is working on getting its terrestrial repeater licenses in European countries before it makes any kind of marketing push in those areas (SN, Oct. 10). Once Worldspace is able to roll out across Europe, then the stock may start to see growth, as the European market should generate significantly higher revenues and provide a better indication on whether satellite radio can be as popular in Europe as in the United States.

VSAT

ViaSat Inc. posted a profit of $6 million on revenue of $104.1 million in its second quarter 2006, the company announced Nov. 3. In the same period a year ago, ViaSat earned $3.7 million on revenue of $82.6 million.

ViaSat’s Government segment posted revenue of $49.5 million during the second quarter 2006, which ended Sept. 30, up 21 percent from revenue in the second quarter 2005. Commercial segment revenue was $56.9 million in the most recent quarter, up 33 percent from revenue of $44.1 million a year ago.

“Our second quarter and first half operating results are slightly better than planned and reflect the strength of both our government and commercial businesses,” Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO of ViaSat, said in a statement. “We’ve significantly increased deliveries of consumer broadband terminals as well as installations of mobile broadband products and maintained solid performance in satellite networks and antenna systems.”

At least one Wall Street analyst viewed ViaSat’s quarterly numbers favorably. Tom Watts, analyst with SG Cowan & Co., noted in a Nov. 4 report that ViaSat’s fiscal second quarter 2006 revenue beat SG Cowan’s predictions of $102.6 million. ViaSat also remained on track to achieve 20 percent growth for the full year, Watts said.

Investors reacted favorably to the financial performance, driving the share price up 44 cents Nov. 3 to $25.94. However, ViaSat shares did not hold that gain, falling in the days that followed and bottoming out at $24.81 Nov. 8. The stock did rebound slightly Nov. 9, closing at $24.97

The drop following a solid fiscal second quarter should not be viewed as a lack of confidence in the stock. In looking at the closing throughout the past two months, ViaSat generally has been on the rise, and you have to go back to Sept. 14 to find a closing price lower than $24. So while the there may have been an immediate drop of the share price after the earnings announcement, the fluctuations seem consistent with the ups and downs the stock has shown throughout the past two months. The general move up suggests investors have an overall positive view of the prospects of ViaSat going forward.