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Inside Satellite

Chris Forrester

Chris Forrester is one of the most experienced and highly regarded journalists in the field. His insight and analysis, particularly in the satellite and pay-TV arena, is highly prized. He has written for all the major business journals in the sector as well as several national newspapers.

Nigeria abandons satellite privatisation plan

Nigeria’s Federal government says it will not now privatise the nation’s satellite system. The decision affects Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NigSatCom), based in the country’s capital city, Abuja. Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says any plan to sell the company and its facilities would be an attempt to short-change Nigerians. Towards the end of […]

February 18, 2016

Telesat wins Panasonic IFE contract

Telesat of Canada has won a significant order from Panasonic Avionics. The order covers “almost all” of Telesat’s satellite bandwidth on its Telstar-12 Vantage spacecraft. The bandwidth will be used by Panasonic to deliver in-flight entertainment to aircraft passengers over Europe, the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Telstar-12 was launched towards the end of last […]

February 16, 2016By Chris Forrester

All eyes on Eutelsat

This coming Wednesday will see satellite operator Eutelsat unveil its half-year results. February 14th saw Australian investment bank Macquarie reaffirm its ’Outperform’ rating on Eutelsat. It is not alone. February 15th saw equity analysts at Exane/BNP-Paribas reiterate “BUY” for Eutelsat in a note to clients. They are expecting Eutelsat’s results to be a “significant positive” […]

February 15, 2016

Egyptian satellite proposal creates a storm

Last week, the ITU’s Radio Regulations Board (RRB) approved a controversial proposal from Egypt that it could build and launch a satellite to the 35.5 degrees East orbital slot. The satellite would be the first of a six-satellite system. The decision is contentious in that Egypt’s application to launch the satellite was well out of […]

February 12, 2016

Eutelsat/Viasat JV raises M&A questions

February 9th saw a major announcement from Eutelsat and California-based ViaSat which sees the two satellite operators coming together in a strategic partnership designed to promote and develop satellite-delivered broadband over Europe. One well-placed analyst thinks it could be the harbinger of even greater co-operation between the two, and even mentions the possibility of a […]

February 11, 2016By Chris Forrester

Meltdown at Viacom

Viacom’s shares crashed a worrying 21.5 per cent on February 9th following on from a troubling set of results and not helped by recent succession worries. Analysts at MoffettNathanson Research summed up the day by bluntly saying “All of our hoped-for catalysts appear to be gone”. A report to clients stated that they had expected […]

February 10, 2016

Netflix: The “dark side” of downward momentum

The past year has been near-spectacular for Netflix. It has grown its core subscriber numbers and revenues, expanded the number of countries covered and a growing approval rating for much of its high-quality output. Yet, shareholders seem disenchanted and of late its share price has slipped (down from $131 back on December 4th to less […]

February 8, 2016

Avanti “burning through cash”

London-based specialist satellite operator Avanti saw its shares fall in value some 13.4 per cent on February 4th following the release of its half-year results. Avanti reported a narrowed pre-tax loss for its first half, and guided for 50 per cent revenue growth from its continuing business at constant currency for its full year. Avanti […]

February 5, 2016

SES in “rehabilitation mode”

Satellite operator SES is not winning friends in the investment community. Despite a couple of mostly positive investment reports last week, its share price has continued to be under pressure. Back in May last year, its share price was €35. Last week it barely touched €24.00. A report from equity analysts at investment bank Jefferies, […]

February 1, 2016

Buoyant forecasts for Eutelsat

Satellite operator Eutelsat has enjoyed a good few days in terms of its share price and helped by a very positive pair of reports from investment banks. One report, from equity analysts at Exane/BNP-Paribas, comes with a “BUY” recommendation and a target share price up 22 per cent at €35 a share (and already rising […]

January 29, 2016