MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates released its third quarter 2014 financial results and conducted a conference call with financial analysts and investors. This is the transcript.
Executives
– Daniel Friedmann – President and Chief Executive Officer
– Anil Wirasekara – Chief Financial Officer
MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd (OTCPK:MDDWF) Q3 2014 Earnings Conference Call October 30, 2014 5:30 PM ET
Operator
Good afternoon. My name is Joanna and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Limited 2014 Third Quarter Results Conference Call and Webcast. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers’ remarks there will be question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. Welcome to MDA’s Third Quarter 2014 Conference Call.
We would like to remind you that part of today’s discussions, including responses to various questions, may contain forward-looking statements which represent the company’s estimates, future plans, objectives and expected performance as of today’s date. These statements are based on current assumptions that the company believes are reasonable, but are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and risks that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information. You are referred to the advisory regarding forward-looking statements contained in the third quarter earnings news release and in the company’s most recent management’s discussion and analysis and annual information form, both of which are available on the company’s website or SEDAR.
I’ll now turn the call over to Mr. Dan Friedmann. Please go ahead.
Daniel Friedmann
Thank you, Joanna. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And thank you for joining us today for MDA’s third quarter 2014 conference call. With me is Anil Wirasekara, our Chief Financial Officer. I will be discussing some of the key events that have taken place in the past few months. Anil will review our financial results for the third quarter. And then we’ll open the line to answer your questions.
In the communications sector the company signed contracts for three communication satellites, bringing the year-to-date bookings to eight. Intelsat 36 our communication satellite for Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services. The satellite is designed to provide media distribution and direct-to-home TV services in Africa and South Asia.
BulgariaSat-1, a communication satellite to be built for an affiliate of a leading telecommunications company and the largest provider of pay-TV services in Bulgaria. The satellite will provide direct-to-home television service in the Balkan region. MDA’s fixed the customer with the full satellite financing including export credit financing from Export-Import Bank in the United States, and a satellite for an undisclosed customer.
Bidding activity in the commercial satellite sector continues to be competitive and at a high level of activity. The company also completed the construction of four commercial communication satellites which were successfully launched and are performing post-launch maneuvers.
AsiaSat 6, designed and built for a leading operator in Asia will provide broadcasting, telecommunications and broadband services across the Asia-Pacific region. AsiaSat 8, which will provide direct-to-home television services, data-broadcasting and telecommunication services in Asia and the Middle East. Optus 10, built for an Australian telecommunications service provider, will provide high quality consumer broadcast services and two-way voice and data communication services for Australia and New Zealand.
Intelsat 30, built for Intelsat will provide distribution services for direct-TV Latin America, and South America, and the Caribbean.
In Canada, our Montreal operations received a contract to provide Mitsubishi Electric Corporation with multiple communication subsystems for a telecommunication satellite. This award represents a further expansion into the sophisticated Japanese market and is a testament to our global leadership position in Ku- and Ka-band multi-beam solutions.
The company was also selected by the European Space Agency for the development and construction of a Ka-band data relay terminal for use on the International Space Station. The terminal would enable higher, faster delivery of scientific data and high-definition video between the International Space Station and ground stations.
In addition, the company was selected by Airbus Defence and Space and by Boeing to provide multiple communication subsystems. In the surveillance and intelligence sector, the Common Wealth of Australia awarded the company a contract amendment valued at $40 million to transition an unmanned aerial vehicle services to Australia following the completion of services in Afghanistan, and to continue the service domestically through December 2017, with options to extend the service for three additional years.
The company has signed a contract with DigitalGlobe to provide a ground station solution for an international customer to receive and process inventory and data from all operational WorldView satellites. This is our first ground station solution to include WorldView-3, the first multi-payload, super-spectral high-resolution commercial satellite. The ground station is based on a multi-satellite architecture and is expandable to support additional satellites.
Also in this area, the company was selected by the Canadian Space Agency for three research and development projects. The first project will evaluate our radar and optical images can be combined to detect and track ships more rapidly. The second project will pursue improving the solution for monitoring land ships and other geological hazards in pipeline corridors. And the third project is to demonstrate the added-value of RADARSAT-2 in monitoring of forest areas by providing information on forest changes and disturbances such as clear cuts and partial cuts.
The company signed a contract and there is existing agreement with the U.S. Air Force to provide – to further enhance the flight path safety system that provides critical support to design of airport approach and departure flight paths.
Moving onto the services business in the Surveillance and Intelligence sector, Geospatial Services signed two agreements with our Chinese partner, totaling $10 million; one agreement is for a 5-year provision of RADARSAT-2 information, and the second for a local ground receiving station.
The RADARSAT information will be used to support a variety of applications from government and commercial uses in China, such as land use management, environmental monitoring, subsidence monitoring, disaster response, and maritime monitoring.
The company was also awarded multiple contracts by several undisclosed customers in the oil exploration sector for RADARSAT-2 base monitoring services to detect and track the movement of oil on water through all weather conditions 24-hours a day, and in the oil and gas and mining sectors to detect surface movement.
Finally, the company closed the acquisition of the Advanced Systems line of business from General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Inc., which we announced in July 2014, located near Detroit, Michigan, the business has approximately 170 employees and generates annual revenues of $40 million. The business has over 50 years of in-depth experience in the development and application of radar and other information sensors for the U.S. government. This unique capability will significantly strengthen the company’s ability to pursue future surveillance systems and services opportunities in the U.S. market.
That concludes MDA’s operational highlights/report. I will now ask Anil to report on the third quarter. Anil?
