PARIS — Satellite fleet operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting of Norway on Feb. 12 reported a 1 percent decline in revenue and gross profit for 2013, a performance the Oslo-based company said was in line with its expectations.
Revenue and profit suffered early in 2013 when the Thor 2 satellite, whose in-orbit life had been extended with a short-term lease to operator SES of Luxembourg, was retired.
Telenor reported 971 million Norwegian kroner ($158.6 million) in revenue for 2013, down slightly from 2012, with EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, at 68.1 percent of revenue compared with 69 percent in 2012.
It was the second consecutive year of small revenue dips at Telenor, which said it has begun a program to improve its operating efficiency.
Telenor operates two satellites and shares capacity with Luxembourg- and Washington-based Intelsat on a third, at the company’s 1 degree west orbital slot.
Telenor’s Thor 7 satellite, under construction by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., is scheduled for launch aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket late in 2014. In addition to bolstering Telenor’s television and telecommunications broadcast capacity in Ku-band, Thor 7 carries a Ka-band payload aimed at maritime and energy production customers.
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