Iridium earnings fall 42%; revenue up - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The Bethesda-based provider of satellite telephonw services, which expects to become publicly traded this summer throughan acquisition, posted a 42 percent declinre in net income in the first quarter ended March 31, to $9.7 millionj from $16.7 million a year ago. Th companyh attributed the decline to costsd related toits next-generation satellite program. “Iridium continuee to grow, although the pace slowed given the curreneconomic climate,” said CEO Matt “In addition to the impact of phasing out equipment we believe the economic climatw is affecting equipment sales, as is the transitionn of newly introduced products into the distribution channe l as our partners move existing inventorgy to make way for new Company officials say either Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin or Thaleds Alenia Space will be selectecd as the program’s lead contractodr this summer.
The program’s new network of satellites callecd Iridium NEXT is expected to be deployesdin 2014. Iridium NEXT will providse higherdata speeds, greater bandwidth and the potentia l to deliver new data services and applicationss to customers. The company says its EBITDA, or earningzs before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, increased 4.9 percent to $27.6 million in the first quarter, up from $26.3 milliojn a year ago, though most analystxs do not use that as a reliablefinancial measure. Iridium’sa revenue rose 2 percent to $75.7 million for the quarter, comparefd to $74.3 million for the first quarter 2008.
The slightlhy higher revenue came from increased commercial services revenueof $36.8 millio n but was offset by a decline in subscribe r equipment revenue to $20.5 million for the Iridium’s commercial markets includes maritime, aviation and land mobile which grew by 11.5 percentr for the quarter. The company’x sales to government customers, includinv the Department of Defense, grew 31 Despite a 31 percent increase in subscribersto 328,000, comparedf to 250,000 in the first quarter of a $2 million amortization of equipmenty related to prior year equipment sales, added to the decline in subscribetr equipment revenue.
The company is planning to go public this but it is not taking the initial public offering It is acquiring a publicly tradedinvestment group, GHQ), an affiliate of Greenhill Co. Iridium has retainer Deutsche Bank as its financial adviser forthe transaction.