Maxar Technologies Ltd. (“Maxar” or the “Company”, formerly MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.), (NYSE and TSX: MAXR), a leading global provider of advanced space technology solutions for commercial and government markets, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year end December 31, 2017.
Effective with the fourth quarter of 2017, we have changed our reporting currency from the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar as the vast majority of our revenue, earnings and assets are based in U.S. dollars following the closing of the DigitalGlobe acquisition. Accordingly, all dollar amounts in this press release are expressed in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Refer to the section entitled “Consolidated Results in Canadian Dollars” later in this press release for further information on our financial results in Canadian dollars.
Highlights from the quarter include:
- Consolidated revenue of $545.1 million
- Adjusted EBITDA of $180.9 million and margins of 33.2%
- Adjusted earnings of $66.5 million and adjusted earnings per share of $1.19
- Net earnings of $64.5 million and net earnings per share of $1.15
“We wrapped up a very busy year with a good quarter. The highlights included closing the DigitalGlobe transaction, renaming the company Maxar Technologies and dual-listing on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges as MAXR. We’ve created a unique integrated space and geospatial intelligence company with end-to-end solutions expertise to serve both commercial and government markets,” stated Howard L. Lance, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We’re making steady progress on delivering revenue and cost synergies of $55-110 million in EBITDA to be achieved by the end of 2019, and. I’m pleased to report that we have now included run rate $25 million in our 2018 outlook as these potential benefits have become a reality,” he added. “Furthermore, we continue to make progress on our U.S. Access plan, with several new program awards and our facility clearance for the Palo Alto, CA satellite factory now being achieved. This paves the way to capture revenue opportunities in the months and years ahead. Finally, we made several key executive hires that have rounded out our senior team.”
“The year ended on solid footing, with the company generating solid cash flows from operating activities and achieving a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 4.0, well under our covenant ceiling with our lenders and below our prior forecast,” stated William McCombe, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “As mentioned earlier, we changed our reporting currency to U.S. dollars effective with the fourth quarter. We also changed our reporting segments to recognize the distinctive nature and margin profiles of our Space Systems, Imagery and Services offering across our four brands,” he added. “We are providing unaudited pro forma historical income statements by quarter for 2017 and 2016, in U.S. dollars, and using the new reporting segments, as if the former DigitalGlobe and Maxar businesses had been combined. We believe this provides relevant trend data to better understand Maxar’s current financial results and the context for our 2018 guidance.”
