Eutelsat

Video applications drove a 10 percent increase in Eutelsat’s 2007 third quarter revenues, the company announced May 10.

Eutelsat posted revenues of 205.7 million euros ($278.6 million) in the quarter, which closed March 31. Video business accounting for 148.8 million euros ($210.5 million), up nearly 17 percent from the 2006 third quarter. Eutelsat’s increase in video revenues has been boosted by developments in Central Europe and Africa, as the operator looks to play a role in growing direct-to-home platforms outside Western Europe. The number of channels broadcast by Eutelsat’s fleet reached 2,505 at the end of March, an increase of 76 in the first quarter.

Revenue in the Data & Value Added Services segment and the Multi-usage both slipped about 3 percent in the same period.

DirecTV

DirecTV Group Inc. posted a profit of $336 million in the 2007 first quarter, up 43 percent from a year ago, the company announced May 9. Revenues improved 15 percent to $3.9 billion over the same period.

In the 2006 first quarter, DirecTV earned $235 million on revenues of $3.4 billion.

DirecTV attributed the revenue gains to strong growth in average revenue per subscriber and a larger subscriber base at DirecTV U.S. as well as the consolidation of Sky Brazil’s financial results. Income gains were driven by improvements in operating profit, which were partially offset by higher income tax expense.

DirecTV attributed net subscriber additions of 235,000 to an increase in gross additions and the company’s lowest monthly churn rate in three years. The subscriber base for DirecTV was 16.2 million at the end of March, an increase of 5 percent over 15.4 million subscribers at the end of March 2006.

"Particularly noteworthy was the significant growth in advanced products in the quarter, including the addition of nearly twice as many high-definition customers compared to the prior year," Chase Carey, DirecTV president and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

EchoStar

EchoStar Communications Corp. reported total revenue of $2.6 billion in the 2007 first quarter, up 15 percent from the same period a year ago, the company announced May 10. Net income in the quarter, which ended March 31, was $157 million, compared to $147 million in the first quarter of 2006.

EchoStar added about 310,000 net new subscribers in the first three months of 2007, ending the quarter with about 13.4 million subscribers overall.

Iridium

Iridium Satellite LLC reported 2007 first quarter revenue of $52.7 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $13.6 million, the company announced May 9. Iridium did not reveal whether it posted a profit or a loss.

At the end of the first quarter, which closed March 31, Iridium reported 183,000 subscribers, up from 148,000 at the end of the 2006 first quarter.

"Our first quarter performance puts the company on a pace to exceed our revenue and EBITDA targets for the year," Matt Desch, Iridium’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Accordingly, we continue to be in a comfortable position to both self-fund and attract capital for the development of our next-generation constellation, Iridium Next."

Integral Systems

Integral Systems Inc. cited decreased shipments in its space communications systems segment, along with increased bid and proposal costs and legal costs associated with a previously disclosed investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for a decrease in revenues for the second quarter for 2007, the company announced May 10.

Revenues for the quarter were $29 million, down $3.1 million from the same period in 2006. Net income was $2.1 million, compared to $3.5 million for the same quarter in 2006.

"Our bookings continue to be strong with $38 million in new business booked in the quarter" Pete Gaffney, Integral’s CEO, said in a statement. "Our total bookings for the year stand at $82 million and our backlog on March 31 was $272 million, our highest ever. Based on these results and our expectations for the [second half of the year], we are on track to meet our full year guidance as revised last quarter."

Premiere

German pay-TV operator Premiere reported nearly 3.5 million customers in Germany and Austria, the company announced May 10.

Premiere added more than 50,000 subscribers in the period ending March 31 and showed an increase in subscribers compared to the pre-Christmas quarter, which is typically when pay-TV operators register the strongest subscriber growth.

Premiere reported a net profit of 4.5 million euros ($6.1 million) for the period. In the same quarter of 2006, the operator posted a loss of 18.3 million euros ($24.8 million).

RRSat

RRSat Global Communications Network Ltd. reported record revenues of $13.3 million in its 2007 first quarter, an increase of nearly 41 percent over revenues of $9.4 million in the first quarter of 2006, RRSat announced May 8. The company also posted record earnings of $2.7 million, up 83 percent from a year ago.

Stratos

Furled by its Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) business, Stratos Global Corp. posted revenues of $144.6 million in the 2007 first quarter, up 21 percent from the same period a year ago, the company announced May 3. Stratos cuts its net loss from $24.9 million in the 2006 first quarter to $4.2 million in the most recent quarter.

The MSS business accounted for $113.2 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2007, which closed March 31. This represented a 30 percent increase compared with the same quarter in 2006. The growth in MSS revenue compared with the first quarter of 2006 was driven by incremental revenue from the acquisition of Xantic in February 2006 and increased demand for newer generation products and value-added services.

MSS segment earnings were $16.3 million in the first quarter of 2007, up 44 percent compared with the same quarter a year ago.

On March 19, Stratos announced an agreement to be acquired by CIP Canada Investment Inc.

Hispasat

Spanish satellite operator Hispasat saw a strong increase in overall revenues and profits in 2006, posting had revenues of 120.5 million euros ($163.8 million), an increase of close to 21 percent compared to 2005. Net profits jumped nearly 150 percent to 24.5 million euros ($33.3 million).

CapRock, Arrowhead

CapRock Communications has finalized its purchase of Arrowhead Global Solutions Inc., CapRock announced May 7.

In February, CapRock announced that the company had signed a definite agreement to acquire Arrowhead.

RAMTelecom, SkyPort Global

RAMTelecom Inc. granted SkyPort Global Communications Inc. a 15-day extension

in order for SkyPort to complete its due diligence process ahead of a planned acquisition, RAMTelecom announced May 3.

SkyPort signed a letter of intent in February to purchase RAMTelecom Inc., and this is the second extension granted to SkyPort .

The deal is expected to be formalized no later than May 18, RAMTelecom said.