Iridium reports record-setting revenue
BETHESDA, Md. – Iridium Satellite LLC has achieved record-setting financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008, the company said in a press release yesterday.
Revenue in the first quarter was $74.3 million versus $52.7 million in the same quarter last year, a 41 percent increase. First quarter EBITDA of $24.4 million was 80 percent greater than EBITDA in the first quarter 2007, which totaled $13.6 million, Iridium reported.
“Iridium posted another record quarter with across-the-board growth in profits, revenue and subscribers in all the regions and vertical markets served,” said Matt Desch, Iridium chairman and CEO. “This growth further solidifies our position as the fastest-growing, and second largest, mobile satellite services company in the world.”
The company unveiled Iridium OpenPort, a product that its says has changed the competitive landscape in the marine satcom market. Iridium OpenPort is an optimized-bandwidth marine satellite system featuring multiple phone lines, IP connectivity, flexible data speeds up to 128 kilobits per second, substantially lower equipment and airtime costs, and unique 100 percent global coverage and service quality. It provides a cost-effective way to address increased maritime reporting and management requirements, opening up new market segments for Iridium, the company said.
“Thanks to committed launch partners, we are already seeing higher-than-expected demand for Iridium OpenPort and have logged pre-orders for thousands of units in the first quarter,” Desch said.
As of March 31, 2008, Iridium surpassed 250,000 subscribers worldwide, a 37 percent increase over the first quarter 2007 total of 183,000.
The company also posted significant increases over first quarter 2007 in voice and data traffic. Traffic in the U.S. and Canada was up almost 100 percent and up 61 percent in the Australia/Asia-Pacific region.
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