SES releases H1 2021 Results

LUXEMBOURG — SES S.A. announces half year financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2021.

Video: 60% of group revenue

At 30 June 2021, SES delivers over 8,650 total TV channels to 361 million TV homes around the world. This includes more than 3,120 TV channels in High Definition which has grown by 8% compared with 30 June 2020. At 30 June 2021, 69% of total TV channels are broadcast in MPEG-4 with an additional 4% broadcast in HEVC.

The impact from customers ‘right-sizing’ volumes in mature markets (Western Europe and the US), lower US wholesale revenue, and the decision to reduce exposure to low margin services activities led to an overall year-on-year revenue reduction, albeit at a much slower pace of decline as compared with the trend in 2020.

International market revenue was higher year-on-year, while continued growth in the number of paying subscribers led to year-on-year growth in HD+ where the combination of an increase in the cost to renew a 12-month subscription from March 2021 and introduction of new Internet Protocol-based solutions into the market are expected to support the future development of the business.

In addition, revenue from Sports & Events is continuing to recover with improved performance compared with H1 2020 which was significantly impacted by cancellations and delays caused by the COVID pandemic.

Future satellite launches (Video)

Satellite        Region         Application                             Launch Date
---------------  -------------  --------------------------------------  -----------
SES-18 & SES-19  North America  Video (US C-band accelerated clearing)      H2 2022
SES-20 & SES-21  North America  Video (US C-band accelerated clearing)      H2 2022