PARIS — Hispasat of Spain, which in recent years has been one of the fastest-growing and most profitable commercial satellite fleet operators, reported Feb. 21 that its growth and profitability increased in 2012.
Madrid-based Hispasat said revenue in 2012 grew 6.9 percent, to 200.3 million euros ($270.4 million), while EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, grew by 4 percent and was equivalent to 84 percent of revenue.
Fifty-five percent of revenue came from the Americas, with most of it coming from Latin America, where Hispasat is developing the 61 degrees west orbital slot into a business to compensate for the lackluster growth in its European market.
The Latin American business grew by 13.8 percent in 2012, Hispasat said. The company did not say so, but its Amazonas 3 satellite, launched in February and scheduled to enter commercial operations in April, should pave the way for further growth at 61 degrees west.
The satellite carries 33 Ku- and 19 C-band transponders and is also equipped with nine Ka-band beams. Hispasat has said it will be the first operator to introduce Ka-band to Latin America and that the South American broadband market should respond well to Amazonas 3.
“The results for 2012 demonstrate that the internationalization of the business was a good decision,” Hispasat Chief Executive Carlos Espinos Gomez said in a Feb. 21 statement accompanying the financial results. “At a time when European markets are stagnated, or even retracting, activity in the American markets allowed us to balance revenue.”
