UK radio and television distribution business Arqiva has been re-rated by Fitch Rating, which says that Arqiva’s recent ‘Whole Business Securitisation’ bonds issued by Arqiva Financing plc are rated at ‘BBB’ with a ‘stable outlook’. Fitch says: “Arqiva’s ratings reflect projected gradual deleveraging, in line with its largely contracted revenue profile. Under the Fitch rating […]

SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh met with FCC chairman Brendan Carr and senior staffers earlier this April to discuss and hear more of the FCC’s plan to reallocate certain C-band frequencies for the benefit of US cellular operators. The amounts involved are considerable. The first time the FCC reallocated C-band spectrum saw SES and Intelsat (which […]

Fitch Ratings has examined the long-term debt for pay-TV broadcaster DirecTV. The downgrade is modest (at BB from BB+) but the result could make further borrowing slightly more costly. DirecTV is owned by AT&T and TPG (the former Texas Pacific Group). Fitch says: “The downgrade reflects secular pressures resulting in increased uncertainty around industry valuations. […]

Satellite operator SES reported its numbers on April 30th but it has now emerged that the company’s O3b mPOWER Mid-Earth orbiting fleet is expected to grow capacity by 30 per cent this year alone, and more in 2026. The additions to the fleet will bring critical capacity for customers in government, maritime and aero, CEO […]

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has dramatically upgraded its view on Eutelsat’s prospects, from ‘Sell’ to ‘Neutral’. The bank admits that its previous advice to ‘Sell’ was “the wrong call”. “With the recent EC announced proposal to establish a loan fund of up to €150bn to support European defence spend, Eutelsat shares have risen materially (c.+550% […]

Western European incumbent telecom operators are likely to fare better in 2025 than some alternative cable operators as they benefit from historical investments in fibre and a continued focus on operational cost reduction, according to Fitch’s Western European Telecoms Outlook 2025 Most mobile markets are set to remain stable or improve this year, while the […]

Fitch Ratings has given Intelsat SA (and sister company Intelsat Jackson Holdings) a ‘Rating Watch Positive’ (RWP) and ‘Credit Positive’ overview and helped by the incoming buyer SES and its stronger financial and credit profile. The RWP reflects Fitch’s expectations that SES SA’s acquisition of Intelsat, announced on April 30th, will be a credit positive, […]

Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat has successfully raised €600 million in fresh debt. The notes are due for repayment in 2029 and bear an interest rate of 9.75 per cent. Eutelsat says it intends to use the gross proceeds together with cash on hand, to fund the repurchase of its €800 million 2 per cent bonds […]

Deutsche Bank’s (DB) advice to clients holding Eutelsat shares is to ‘SELL’ their stock. Its previous advice was to ‘HOLD’ their shares. DB now says its preferred satellites company within its coverage is Luxembourg-based SES which it rates ‘BUY’. DB says it is concerned over operational delays which it says are weighing on its OneWeb […]

Fitch Ratings has taken another look at Eutelsat’s prospects and downgraded the satellite operator to ‘BB-‘ and with an ‘Outlook Negative’ view because of its “OneWeb challenges”, its higher execution risks, and competition for OneWeb from other LEO constellations. Fitch expects Eutelsat to have to borrow more cash to fund the OneWeb expansion plan. Fitch’s […]