Hong Kong, 15 March 2017 – Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited (‘AsiaSat’ – SEHK: 1135), Asia’s leading satellite operator, today announced its 2016 annual results for the year ended 31 December 2016.
Financial Highlights:
- 2016 revenue of HK$1,272 million, down 3% compared to 2015 primarily due to reduced short-term revenue from AsiaSat 3S. If excluding the short-term non-recurring AsiaSat 3S revenue, revenue grew by about 3%
- 2016 profit attributable to owners maintained at HK$430 million (2015: HK$440 million), as a result of lower income tax charges following the reversal of a provision made in previous years
- Combined new and renewed contracts during the year valued at HK$1,870 million (2015: HK$1,310 million). As at 31 December 2016, the value of contracts on hand increased by 16% to HK$4,067 million (2015: HK$3,517 million)
- Proposed final dividend of HK$0.20 per share
Operational Highlights:
- Utilisation of AsiaSat 4, AsiaSat 5, AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 7 as of 31 December 2016 stood at 67% (99 transponders utilised), with AsiaSat 8’s entire Ku-band payload fully leased at 4 degrees West and AsiaSat 3S operating in inclined orbit to provide service in Asia
- AsiaSat 9, a replacement for AsiaSat 4 and planned for launch in late 2017, will offer additional capacity serving new markets for Direct-to-Home (DTH), regional video distribution, private networks and broadband services
- The acquisition of new customer Shanghai Interactive Television (SiTV) on AsiaSat 6 marked AsiaSat’s re-entry into the China video market through establishing a high value platform to support the development of High Definition (HD) broadcasting in China
- Continued to lead the industry in advanced technology through advocating Ultra HD (UHD) broadcasting in Asia with its free-to-air UHD channel ‘4K-SAT’ on AsiaSat 4, and evaluating opportunities to develop its High Throughput Satellite (HTS) Ka-band capabilities Page 2 of 17 AsiaSat’s Chairman, JU Wei Min, said, “In the coming year, the Board of Directors is cautiously optimistic on the economic prospects for the region, which, despite relatively flat indicators for some markets continues to invest in new telecommunications and media infrastructure, as well as renewing and updating existing facilities. New DTH platforms focused on smaller emerging markets remain attractive, especially given the need for relevant local-language services.”
“In order to address the ever-increasing, long-term demand for new data transmission capacity AsiaSat will continue to evaluate opportunities to develop its HTS Ka-band capabilities, carefully monitoring and benefiting from the technical and commercial progress of deployments of IoT, UHD and other consumer driven services,” Mr. JU added.
You can download the full report here.
Media Contacts:
Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited
Winnie Pang, Manager, Marketing Communications
Tel: (852) 2500 0880 Email: wpang@asiasat.com