Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) announced its combined financial outcomes for the six months ending on 30th June 2023. While revenue remained steady at AED 753M (equivalent to $205M) for the first half of the year, EBITDA and net income saw a 3% rise compared to the previous year, reaching AED 460M ($125M) and a 5% increase to AED 175M ($48M) respectively.
The company experienced revenue expansion in its Infrastructure division, the largest segment that supplies communication capacity to the UAE government. Additionally, its Data Solutions division, which offers broadband data solutions via satellite, also contributed to this growth.
The Managed Solutions segment, which offers comprehensive value-added satellite communication solutions primarily to the UAE government and associated entities, managed to maintain its revenue in line with the notably strong previous year.
Mobility Solutions, represented by the Thuraya business providing mobile satellite services utilizing L-band spectrum, witnessed robust double-digit growth of 12% in the second quarter compared to the preceding year. This surge was driven by increased equipment sales, a trend expected to persist into the third quarter and contribute to overall revenue growth for this segment by the year’s end.”
Yahsat’s Progress
Ali Al Hashemi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Yahsat, commented, “Yahsat continues to improve its business operations and profitability, and we remain focused on growing both our core government business and commercial segments, whilst controlling and optimising costs across the Group.
“In addition to completing the Thuraya-4 NGS satellite procurement programme, which remains on track to be launched in the first half of 2024, we have signed an Authorisation-to-Proceed (ATP) with Airbus, a long-time partner of Yahsat, to commence initial activities relating to the procurement of the Al Yah 4 and Al Yah 5 satellites.
In parallel, we are in advanced negotiations with the UAE government to secure a long-term contract that would significantly increase and extend our backlog of contracted revenues beyond 2040.
“We have also commenced work on establishing a formal partnership with Bayanat to offer Earth Observation (EO) capabilities using, in the first phase, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology, which provides higher resolution data than conventional sensors. This partnership aims to develop a constellation of five satellites, with the first satellite expected to be launched in the first half of 2024, which will further diversify our current portfolio of fixed and mobile satellite communication services from GEO orbits and expand it to include Earth observation services from LEO orbits.”
“The satellite industry continues to witness substantial investments and the development of new business models. Together, these forces are driving industry consolidation and the necessary emergence of larger and stronger players. Yahsat remains in a strong position to take advantage of these developments, underpinned by our unique backlog of future revenues and our historically strong and robust balance sheet.”
