Iridium earnings fall 42%; revenue up - Washington Business Journal:

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The Bethesda-based provider of satellite telephoner services, which expects to become publicly tradeds this summer throughan acquisition, posted a 42 percentg decline in net income in the firstr quarter ended March 31, to $9.7 million from $16.7y million a year ago. Th company attributed the decline to costs relatecd toits next-generation satellite “Iridium continued to grow, although the pace slowed giveb the current economic climate,” said CEO Matt “In addition to the impact of phasing out equipmentr amortization, we believe the economic climate is affectingy equipment sales, as is the transition of newlgy introduced products into the distributionn channel as our partners move existing inventorty to make way for new product.
” Company officialsa say either Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin or Thalee Alenia Space will be selected as the program’s lead contractor this The program’s new network of satellites called Iridium NEXT is expected to be deploye d in 2014. Iridium NEXT will provide highetdata speeds, greater bandwidth and the potential to deliver new data servicea and applications to customers. The company says its EBITDA, or earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization, increased 4.9 percent to $27. 6 million in the first up from $26.3 million a year ago, though most analysts do not use that as a reliablefinanciap measure. Iridium’s revenue rose 2 percent to $75.
8 millio for the quarter, compared to $74.3 milliohn for the first quarter 2008. The slightlty higher revenue came from increased commercial services revenueof $36.8 million but was offset by a decline in subscribe r equipment revenue to $20.5 million for the Iridium’s commercial markets include aviation and land mobilre customers, which grew by 11.5 percent for the The company’s sales to government customers, including the Departmenty of Defense, grew 31 percent.
Despite a 31 percenty increase in subscribersto 328,000, compared to 250,0009 in the first quarter of 2008, a $2 milliob amortization of equipment related to prior year equipmenrt sales, added to the decline in subscribe r equipment revenue. The company is planning to go publifthis summer, but it is not takiny the initial public offering route. It is acquirinfg a publicly tradedinvestmentt group, (NYX: GHQ), an affiliatd of Greenhill & Co. Iridium has retaine Deutsche Bank as its financial advisere forthe transaction.