ISAT.L

Inmarsat PLC reported a profit of $31.3 million in the first half of 2006, down from a profit of $42.8 in the first half of 2005, The company reported Aug. 4. Revenues fell from $253.6 million in the first half of 2005 to $245.9 million in the most recent six months.

Maritime sector revenue improved 5 percent to $141 million in the period, which closed June 30, due to strong sales and use of Fleet products. The growth in the Fleet services helped data services revenues improve from $82.1 million in the first half of 2005 to $90.8 million in the same period in 2006. Voice business for the maritime sector slipped 3 percent to $50.2 million and has been hurt by the process of switching from analog to digital service, which Inmarsat hopes to complete by the end of 2007.

Revenue from the land sector fell from $65.8 million to $59.7 million primarily due to lower demand for services in the Middle East, which was offset partially by an increased demand for Regional-Broadband Global Area Network service triggered by the launch of the first two Inmarsat-4 satellites. Land voice revenue continues to slide due to competition from Mobile Satellite Service operators.

Aeronautical sector revenues jumped 36 percent to $14.4 million due to growth in the Swift64 service, as terminal activations were up more than 30 percent in the first half of 2006.

Leasing revenue fell from $31 million in the first half of 2005 to $27.3 million in the first half of 2006 due to the expiration of several short-term leases early in 2006.

"Our first half performance delivers solidly on our expectations that growth in our maritime data and aeronautical businesses would be sustained in 2006," Andrew Sukawaty, Inmarsat’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Importantly, we also saw improved trends during the half in both the maritime voice and land data sectors. With the prospect of an increasing contribution from BGAN and an improved outlook for leasing following the signing of new business late in the first half, we remain well-positioned to achieve our goals for the year."

SIRI

Sirius Satellite Radio now expects to finish 2006 with 6.3 million subscribers after adding more than 600,000 in the second quarter, the company announced Aug. 1. The company previously forecast that it would reach 6.2 million subscribers by the end of the year. Sirius closed the second quarter, which ended June 30, with 4.7 million subscribers, a 158 percent gain from the 1.8 million subscribers the company reported at the end of the 2005 second quarter. This was the third straight quarter that Sirius led rival XM Satellite Radio in net subscriber additions. The subscriber gains helped the satellite radio provider post revenues of $150.1 million in the 2006 second quarter, more than triple revenues of $52.2 in the 2005 second quarter. Subscriber revenues accounted for $88 million of the $97.9 million gain in total revenues. Average monthly revenue per subscriber was $11.16 in the second quarter of 2006, up from $10.50 a year ago. Sirius raised its estimate for 2006 revenues to $615 million, up from the previous estimate of $600 million. "Continued strong demand for Sirius’ products and programming gives us confidence to increase our revenue and subscriber guidance," Mel Karmazin, the company’s CEO, said in a statement. "We continue to be excited about the growth prospects for satellite radio and remain pleased with our solid execution as we approach positive free cash flow." The growth in subscribers and revenues did not help Sirius cut its net loss, which reached $237.8 million in the 2006 second quarter. In the same period in 2005, the company lost $177.5 million. Total operating expenses jumped from $226.8 million to $380.6 million over the same period. Subscriber acquisition cost per gross subscriber addition was $131 for the second quarter of 2006, down from $160 in the 2005 second quarter.

VSAT

ViaSat Inc. recorded record revenues of $128.7 million and new net contract awards of $134 million in the company’s 2007 first quarter, ViaSat announced Aug. 3, The company posted a profit of $7.6 million, up from $5.2 million in the same period a year ago.

The government segment reported revenues of $64.6 million in the quarter, which closed June 30, a 21 percent increase over revenues in the first quarter of fiscal year 2006. The growth primarily was related to increases in tactical data link and inline network encryption product sales.

Revenues in the commercial segment were $64.1 million for the 2007 first quarter, up 35 percent increase from the first quarter of fiscal year 2006, due to higher sales of consumer broadband products.

ViaSat’s backlog stood at $380.6 million at the end of the 2007 first quarter, down slightly from a backlog of $391.2 million at the end of the 2006 first quarter.

BCE

Telesat Canada reported a profit of 43 million Canadian dollars ($38 million) in the 2006 second quarter, compared to earnings of 26.3 million ($23.2 million) in the same period in 2005, the company announced Aug. 2. Telesat Canada attributed the gains to lower tax rates and the elimination of the large corporations tax. Revenues declined throughout the same period, falling from 137.3 million Cdn ($121.3 million) in the second quarter of 2005 to 119.6 million ($105.7 million) in the most recent three months.

BLL

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. announced July 31 it divided its defense operations organization unit into two separate business units. National Defense Solutions will be led by Fred Doyle and focus on national intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and space superiority missions as well as be responsible for space hardware capabilities and systems engineering expertise. Advanced Technologies and Products, under Drew Crouch, will handle Ball’s core technology and product capabilities, focusing on civil, commercial and national security programs.