Inmarsat Fri. reported a drop in first-half earnings, but said it...
Inmarsat Fri. reported a drop in first-half earnings, but said its maritime voice and land data businesses performed better than expected in the first 6 months of the year. First-half revenue was down to $245.9 million, from $253.6 million…
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in the first half of 2005, with EBITDA also down to $162.8 million from $171.8 million a year ago. Maritime business revenue grew 11% thanks to an increase in data traffic, which offset a continuing decline in voice services, Inmarsat officials said. Sales to the aeronautical sector rose 36%, driven by take-up of Inmarsat’s new Swift64 Broadband service, they said. But Inmarsat’s land sector revenue dropped compared to last year’s strong first half. Demand in 2005 was boosted by a need for satellite services post-Asian tsunami and U.S. hurricane disasters, they said. General demand for satellite services on land is falling back as mobile networks ramp up terrestrial 3G coverage, but outlook on BGAN remains positive, CEO Andrew Sukawaty said. Sukawaty said the media has been leading uptake of Inmarsat’s BGAN high-speed mobile Internet offering: “So far it’s being used by media in particular… In the Middle East right now you'd be hard-pressed to see a news program which is not using one [BGAN terminal] for broadcasting.”