PARIS — Satellite fleet operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting of Norway on July 21 reported a 12 percent drop in revenue for the three months ending June 30 compared to the same period a year ago as it continued to feel the effects of a new, less favorable contract with its biggest customer.
Oslo-based Telenor said second-quarter revenue, at 243 million Norwegian kroner ($44.9 million), was up 1.7 percent over the previous quarter, when the new contract with Norway’s Canal Digital took effect.
Canal Digital leases more than 20 transponders on Telenor’s Thor spacecraft. Early this year it consolidated numerous fixed-price contracts into a single agreement that features volume discounts.
Telenor said its EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, was 65 percent of revenue, down from 69 percent both in the previous quarter and a year ago.
Telenor recently ordered a Thor 7 satellite from Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., which is scheduled for launch aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket in late 2013. Thor 7 will carry a mixed Ku-/Ka-band payload.
