[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-06-12] Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce says the company has performed solidly in 2012 despite a tough operating environment this year. Pearce became CEO of Inmarsat at the start of the year. Revenue growth is likely to be “modest,” as Pearce told Satellite Today Insider, “We said at the start of this year that we would deliver between 0 and 2 percent CAGR in wholesale revenues through 2012 and 2013 and we remain confident of delivering to that goal. Of course those growth targets look pretty modest when set against our exceptional performance in recent years, as well as our future growth potential once Global Xpress comes to market, but it is a pretty attritional market out there, and that we have the twin headwinds of a lack of event revenue this year compared to last year, as well as the reduction of our U.S. government revenues from Afghanistan. Strip out those headwinds, and our business is growing quite healthily and we expect to growth at the upper end of our 0 to 2 percent target this year, setting us up nicely for 2013.”

      While conceding it is “tough business” environment, Pearce is confident that the operator is set up for a good 2013, “Our commercial maritime customers are going through a torrid time in their market with over-capacity, high fuel costs and low prices for their cargos. But, at the same time, those factors also mean that our customers are beginning to appreciate that an investment in broadband communications can deliver terrific returns in terms of indirect operating expenditure savings, by supporting greater automation and centralisation as well as value-driving applications like engine monitoring systems and smart routing, and this is undoubtedly driving FleetBroadband growth today. Strip out those headwinds, and our business is growing quite healthily and we expect to growth at the upper end of our 0 to 2 percent target this year, setting us up nicely for 2013.”