– Completes
acquisition of Satelles, Inc., its first ever acquisition, on
April 1
MCLEAN,
Va., April 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium
Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) ("Iridium"), a leading provider
of global voice and data satellite communications, today reported
financial results for the first quarter of 2024 and reiterated its
full-year 2024 outlook. Net income was $19.7 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the first quarter of
2024, as compared to net income of $9.8 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, for the first quarter of
2023. Operational EBITDA ("OEBITDA")(1) for the first
quarter was $115.0 million, as
compared to $111.9 million for
the prior-year period, representing a year-over-year increase of
3%. Net income benefitted from a year-over-year decrease in
depreciation expense associated with the extension of the estimated
useful lives of the Company's satellites and continued growth in
total commercial services revenue.
Iridium reported first-quarter total revenue of $203.9 million, which consisted of
$148.6 million of service
revenue and $55.3 million of
revenue related to equipment sales and engineering and support
projects. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring
revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, grew 7% from the
year-ago period and was 73% of total revenue for the first quarter
of 2024. Total revenue decreased 1% versus the comparable period of
2023, largely due to lower equipment revenue.
The Company ended the quarter with 2,333,000 total billable
subscribers, which compares to 2,051,000 for the year-ago period
and is up from 2,279,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Total billable subscribers
grew 14% year-over-year, led by growth in commercial IoT.
"Continued strong service revenue growth fueled Iridium's
business results in the first quarter," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. Desch added,
"Subscriber growth and demand for Iridium's mission-critical
applications are driving new service development and free cash
flow."
Commenting on Iridium's recent acquisition, Desch said, "We're
excited to broaden our opportunities for growth with the closing of
the Satelles acquisition in early April. This transaction makes
Iridium a leading provider of satellite-based time and location
services." Desch added, "With the prevalence of GPS jamming and
location spoofing on the rise, our new Satellite Time and Location
service will allow us to protect critical infrastructure and expand
resilient time-synchronization for enterprises and governments
around the world."
Iridium Business Highlights
Service – Commercial
Commercial service remained the largest part of Iridium's
business, representing 60% of the Company's total revenue during
the first quarter. The Company's commercial customer base is
diverse and includes markets such as maritime, aviation, oil and
gas, mining, recreation, forestry, construction, transportation and
emergency services. These customers rely on Iridium's products and
services as critical to their daily operations and integral to
their communications and business infrastructure.
- Commercial service revenue was $122.1
million, up 8% from last year's comparable period due to
broad-based growth.
- Commercial voice and data: Revenue was $55.0 million, up 5% from the year-ago period.
Subscribers grew 3% from the year-ago period to 405,000. Average
revenue per user ("ARPU") was $45
during the first quarter, compared to $44 in the prior-year period, with the increase
due primarily to higher access fees.
- Commercial IoT data: Revenue was $39.4
million, up 23% from the year-ago period. Subscribers grew
18% from the year-ago period to 1,766,000 customers, driven by
continued growth in consumer personal communications devices. ARPU
was $7.57 in the first quarter,
compared to $7.22 in last year's
comparable period. The increase in ARPU resulted primarily from a
new contract with a large customer.
- Commercial broadband: Revenue was $13.7
million, up 2% from $13.4
million in the year-ago period on subscriber growth. ARPU
was $274 during the first quarter,
compared to $294 in last year's
comparable period, reflecting the increased prevalence of Iridium's
use as a companion service rather than primary.
- Hosted payload and other data service: Revenue was $14.0 million, down 7% from $15.0 million in the year-ago period. As
previously noted, there was a year-over-year decrease in hosted
payload revenue related to the change in the estimated useful lives
of Iridium's satellites that went into effect in the fourth quarter
of 2023.
- Iridium's commercial business ended the quarter with 2,188,000
billable subscribers, which compares to 1,912,000 for the
prior-year quarter and is up from 2,134,000 for the quarter ended
December 31, 2023. IoT data
subscribers represented 81% of billable commercial subscribers at
the end of the quarter, an increase from 79% at the end of the
corresponding prior-year period.
Service – U.S. Government
Iridium's voice and data solutions improve situational awareness
for military personnel and track critical assets in tough
environments around the globe, providing a unique value proposition
that is not easily duplicated.
Under Iridium's Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services contract (the
"EMSS Contract"), a seven-year, $738.5
million fixed-price airtime contract with the U.S. Space
Force signed in September 2019,
Iridium provides specified satellite airtime services, including
unlimited global standard and secure voice, paging, fax, Short
Burst Data®, Iridium Burst®, RUDICS and
Distributed Tactical Communications System services for an
unlimited number of Department of Defense and other federal
government subscribers. Iridium also provides maintenance and
support work for the U.S. government's dedicated
Iridium® gateway under two other contracts with the U.S.
Space Force. Iridium Certus® airtime services are not
included under these contracts and may be procured separately for
an additional fee.
- Government service revenue remained flat at $26.5 million in the first quarter, reflecting
the contractual rate in the EMSS Contract.
- Iridium's U.S. government business ended the quarter with
145,000 subscribers, which compares to 139,000 for the prior-year
quarter and remains unchanged from the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Government voice and data
subscribers increased 3% from the year-ago period to 62,000 as of
March 31, 2024. Government IoT
data subscribers increased 5% year-over-year and represented 57% of
government subscribers at quarter-end.
- Under the terms of the multi-year EMSS Contract, Iridium's
fixed-price rate will increase to $107
million for the contract year beginning September 15, 2024.
Equipment
- Equipment revenue was $24.9
million in the first quarter, down 40% compared to
$41.7 million in the prior-year
quarter.
- In 2024, the Company expects equipment sales to be lower than
2023 and to be more in line with periods prior to 2022.
Engineering & Support
- Engineering and support revenue was $30.4 million during the first quarter, compared
to $24.2 million in the prior-year
quarter, primarily due to a rise in activity with the U.S.
government.
- In 2024, the Company expects engineering and support revenue to
increase from 2023 with ongoing work on the Space Development
Agency contract.
Capital expenditures were $14.6 million for the first quarter,
including $1.1 million in
capitalized interest. The Company ended the first quarter with
gross debt of $1.6 billion and a
cash and cash equivalents balance of $174.0 million. The Company received cash of
approximately $125 million as a
result of an increase in the Term Loan, which was used in April to
fund the Satelles acquisition. The Company ended the first quarter
with a net debt balance of $1.4 billion, representing net leverage of
3.1 times OEBITDA.
Iridium paid a dividend of $0.13
per common share on March 28, 2024,
resulting in a total payment of $16.1
million to stockholders. The Board of Directors plans to
increase the quarterly dividend to $0.14 per share starting with the second quarter
2024 dividend, which would result in a full-year dividend increase
of 5.8%.
During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 1.9
million shares of its common stock under its previously announced
share repurchase program at a total purchase price of $56.6 million. As of March
31, 2024, $277.4 million
remained available and authorized for repurchase under this program
through December 31, 2025. The
Company has retired 17.8 million shares, equivalent to $722.6 million, since its share repurchase
program commenced in February
2021.
2024 Outlook and Longer-Term Outlook
The Company reiterated its full-year 2024 outlook:
- Total service revenue growth between 4% and 6% for full-year
2024. Total service revenue for 2023 was $584.5 million.
- Full-year 2024 OEBITDA between $460
million and $470 million.
OEBITDA for 2023 was $463.1
million.
- Cash taxes of less than $10
million per year from 2024 through 2026. We now expect that
the longer-term cash tax rate will move closer to the statutory
rate in 2028.
- Net leverage below 2.5 times OEBITDA as we exit 2026 and
falling below 2.0 times OEBITDA by the end of the decade, assuming
the completion of the Company's share repurchase authorization and
the payment of quarterly dividends. Net leverage was 3.1 times
OEBITDA at December 31, 2023.
(1) Non-GAAP Financial Measures &
Definitions
In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined
in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company provides Operational
EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as a
supplemental measure to help investors evaluate the Company's
fundamental operational performance. Operational EBITDA represents
earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and
amortization, loss on equity method investments, acquisition and
related costs, and share-based compensation expenses. Such charges
are incidental to, but not reflective of, the
Company's day-to-day operating performance. Operational
EBITDA does not represent, and should not be considered, an
alternative to U.S. GAAP measurements such as net income or loss.
In addition, there is no standardized measurement of Operational
EBITDA, and the Company's calculations thereof may not be
comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other
companies. The Company believes Operational EBITDA is a useful
measure across time in evaluating its fundamental core operating
performance. Management also uses Operational EBITDA to manage the
business, including in preparing its annual operating budget, debt
covenant compliance, financial projections and compensation plans.
The Company believes that Operational EBITDA is also useful to
investors because similar measures are frequently used by
securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in
their evaluation of companies in similar industries. As indicated,
Operational EBITDA does not include interest expense on borrowed
money, the payment of income taxes, amortization of the Company's
definite-lived intangible assets, or depreciation expense on the
Company's capital assets, which are necessary elements of the
Company's operations. Since Operational EBITDA does not account for
these and other expenses, its utility as a measure of the Company's
operating performance has material limitations. Due to these
limitations, the Company's management does not view Operational
EBITDA in isolation, but also uses other measurements, such as net
income, revenues and operating profit, to measure operating
performance. Please refer to the schedule below for a
reconciliation of consolidated GAAP net income to Operational
EBITDA and Iridium's Investor Relations webpage
at www.iridium.com for a discussion and reconciliation of this
and other non-GAAP financial measures. We do not provide
a forward-looking reconciliation of expected full-year 2024
Operational EBITDA guidance as the amount and significance of
special items required to develop meaningful comparable GAAP
financial measures cannot be estimated at this time without
unreasonable efforts.
Iridium Communications
Inc.
|
Supplemental
Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Operational EBITDA
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended
March 31,
|
|
|
2024
|
|
2023
|
GAAP net
income
|
|
$
19,653
|
|
$
9,775
|
Interest expense,
net
|
|
20,663
|
|
17,890
|
Income tax (benefit)
expense
|
|
7,931
|
|
(5,453)
|
Depreciation and
amortization
|
|
49,744
|
|
75,819
|
Share-based
compensation
|
|
14,000
|
|
12,762
|
Acquisition and related
costs(1)
|
|
1,456
|
|
—
|
Loss on equity method
investments
|
|
1,567
|
|
1,155
|
Operational
EBITDA
|
|
$
115,014
|
|
$
111,948
|
|
|
(1)
|
Represents direct costs
incurred in connection with the negotiation, consummation and
integration of acquisition transactions, whether or not actually
completed. These costs generally include legal and advisory fees,
severance and other related costs.
|
Conference Call Information
As previously announced, the Company will host a conference call
to discuss its results at 8:30 a.m. Eastern
Time on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Callers should dial
1-412-902-6740 to access the call. The conference call will also be
simultaneously webcast on Iridium's Investor Relations webpage at
www.iridium.com. An archive of the webcast will be available
following the live conference call.
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium® is the only mobile voice and data satellite
communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables
connections between people, organizations, and assets to and from
anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner
companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of
reliable solutions for markets that require truly global
communications. In 2024, Iridium acquired Satelles and announced
the Iridium Satellite Time and Location service. Iridium
Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock
trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol
IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services, and
partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely
historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Iridium's
expectations with respect to total service revenue growth, OEBITDA,
net leverage and cash taxes for 2024; cash taxes and net leverage
over the long term; anticipated equipment sales and engineering and
support service revenue for 2024; expected cash flow; amount and
timing of share repurchases, the payment of dividends, and expected
revenues from its EMSS contract with the U.S. government.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words
"anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects,"
"intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are
predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from
any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties
regarding customer demand for Iridium's products and services,
including demand from the U.S. government; Iridium's ability to
maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite
constellation, and the development of and market for Iridium's
products and services, as well as general industry and economic
conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological
factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements
include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in
the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 15,
2024, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC
from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's
expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions
prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those
expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking
statements are based on information available to it as of the date
of this press release and speak only as of the date of this press
release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements.
Iridium Communications
Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
Condensed Consolidated
Statements of Operations
|
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended
March 31,
|
|
|
2024
|
|
2023
|
Revenue
|
|
|
|
|
Service
revenue
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial
|
|
$
122,077
|
|
$
112,849
|
Government
|
|
26,500
|
|
26,500
|
Total service
revenue
|
|
148,577
|
|
139,349
|
Subscriber
equipment
|
|
24,868
|
|
41,676
|
Engineering and support
service
|
|
30,408
|
|
24,248
|
Total
revenue
|
|
203,853
|
|
205,273
|
Operating
expenses
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of services
(exclusive of depreciation and amortization)
|
|
46,449
|
|
36,605
|
Cost of subscriber
equipment sales
|
|
13,880
|
|
27,139
|
Research and
development
|
|
7,198
|
|
3,878
|
Selling, general and
administrative
|
|
36,811
|
|
38,684
|
Depreciation and
amortization
|
|
49,744
|
|
75,819
|
Total operating
expenses
|
|
154,082
|
|
182,125
|
Operating
income
|
|
49,771
|
|
23,148
|
Other income
(expense), net
|
|
|
|
|
Interest expense,
net
|
|
(20,663)
|
|
(17,890)
|
Other income,
net
|
|
43
|
|
219
|
Total other expense,
net
|
|
(20,620)
|
|
(17,671)
|
Income before income
taxes and loss on equity method investments
|
|
29,151
|
|
5,477
|
Income tax benefit
(expense)
|
|
(7,931)
|
|
5,453
|
Loss on equity method
investments
|
|
(1,567)
|
|
(1,155)
|
Net income
|
|
$
19,653
|
|
$
9,775
|
Operational
EBITDA
|
|
$
115,014
|
|
$
111,948
|
Iridium Communications
Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
Summary Revenue and
OEBITDA Highlights
|
|
|
|
|
(In
thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended
March 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
2023
|
|
% Change
|
Revenue
|
|
|
|
|
|
Service
revenue(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial service
revenue
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and
data
|
$
54,977
|
|
$
52,448
|
|
5 %
|
IoT
data(2)
|
39,455
|
|
31,950
|
|
23 %
|
Broadband(3)
|
13,692
|
|
13,448
|
|
2 %
|
Hosted payload and
other data service(4)
|
13,953
|
|
15,003
|
|
-7 %
|
Total commercial
service revenue
|
122,077
|
|
112,849
|
|
8 %
|
Government service
revenue(5)
|
26,500
|
|
26,500
|
|
— %
|
Total service
revenue
|
148,577
|
|
139,349
|
|
7 %
|
Subscriber
equipment
|
24,868
|
|
41,676
|
|
-40 %
|
Engineering and
support(6)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial
|
1,153
|
|
5,686
|
|
-80 %
|
Government
|
29,255
|
|
18,562
|
|
58 %
|
Total engineering and
support
|
30,408
|
|
24,248
|
|
25 %
|
Total
revenue
|
$
203,853
|
|
$ 205,273
|
|
-1 %
|
Operational
EBITDA
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operational
EBITDA
|
$
115,014
|
|
$ 111,948
|
|
3 %
|
Other
|
|
|
|
|
|
Capital
expenditures(7)
|
$
14,564
|
|
$
22,905
|
|
|
Net
debt(8)
|
$
1,446,913
|
|
$
1,373,908
|
|
|
Cash, cash equivalents
and marketable securities
|
$
174,025
|
|
$ 126,592
|
|
|
Term Loan,
gross
|
$
1,620,938
|
|
$
1,500,500
|
|
|
Deferred financing
costs
|
(17,181)
|
|
(16,399)
|
|
|
Term Loan,
net
|
$
1,603,757
|
|
$
1,484,101
|
|
|
|
|
(1)
|
Service revenue
consists of primarily subscription-based services which often
generate a long-term recurring revenue stream from
subscribers.
|
(2)
|
IoT data service
provides a two-way short burst data transmission between Iridium
Communications Inc.'s network and a telemetry unit, which may be
located, for example, on a container in transit or a buoy
monitoring oceanographic conditions.
|
(3)
|
Broadband is comprised
of Iridium OpenPort® and Iridium Certus.
|
(4)
|
Hosted payload and
other services consist primarily of services that do not have
traditional billable subscribers. Hosted payload services consist
of hosting and data services to our payload customers, Aireon and
Harris. Other services include primarily Iridium Communications
Inc.'s one-way satellite timing, location, and authentication
services (STL) which provides position, navigation and timing
technology.
|
(5)
|
Government service
revenue consists of voice and IoT data subscription-based services
provided to agencies of the U.S. government through prime
contracts.
|
(6)
|
Engineering and support
includes maintenance services to the U.S. government's dedicated
gateway and engineering services to assist customers in developing
new technologies for use on Iridium Communications Inc.'s satellite
system.
|
(7)
|
Capital expenditures
based on cash spent in the respective period.
|
(8)
|
Net debt is calculated
by taking the sum of the gross Term Loan and gross drawn Revolving
Facility, less cash, cash equivalents and marketable
securities.
|
Iridium Communications
Inc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Subscriber
Highlights
|
|
|
|
|
|
(In thousands, except
ARPU)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As of March
31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
2023
|
|
% Change
|
Billable Subscribers
(1) (2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and data, IoT
data and Broadband service
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and
data
|
405
|
|
395
|
|
3 %
|
IoT data
|
1,766
|
|
1,501
|
|
18 %
|
Broadband
(3)
|
16.6
|
|
15.5
|
|
7 %
|
Total commercial voice
and data, IoT data and Broadband service
|
2,188
|
|
1,912
|
|
14 %
|
Government
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and data and IoT
data service
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and
data
|
62
|
|
60
|
|
3 %
|
IoT data
|
83
|
|
79
|
|
5 %
|
Total government voice
and data and IoT data service
|
145
|
|
139
|
|
4 %
|
Total billable
subscribers
|
2,333
|
|
2,051
|
|
14 %
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended
March 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
2023
|
|
% Change
|
Net Billable
Subscriber Additions
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and data. IoT
data and Broadband service
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and
data
|
(3)
|
|
(2)
|
|
-50 %
|
IoT data
|
57
|
|
53
|
|
8 %
|
Broadband
|
—
|
|
0.5
|
|
(100) %
|
Total commercial voice
and data, IoT data and Broadband service
|
54
|
|
52
|
|
5 %
|
Government
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and data and IoT
data service
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and
data
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
NM
|
IoT data
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
NM
|
Total government voice
and data and IoT data service
|
—
|
|
—
|
|
NM
|
Total net billable
subscriber additions
|
54
|
|
52
|
|
5 %
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Three Months Ended
March 31,
|
|
|
|
2024
|
|
2023
|
|
% Change
|
ARPU
(2) (4)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Commercial
|
|
|
|
|
|
Voice and
data
|
$
45
|
|
$
44
|
|
2 %
|
IoT data
|
$
7.57
|
|
$
7.22
|
|
5 %
|
Broadband
|
$
274
|
|
$
294
|
|
(7) %
|
|
|
(1)
|
Subscribers as of the
end of the respective period.
|
(2)
|
Billable subscriber and
ARPU data is not applicable for Hosted payload and other data
service revenue items and is excluded from presentation
above.
|
(3)
|
Broadband is comprised
of Iridium OpenPort® and Iridium Certus.
|
(4)
|
Average monthly revenue
per unit, or ARPU, is calculated by dividing revenue in the
respective period by the average of the number of billable
subscribers at the beginning of the period and the number of
billable subscribers at the end of the period and then dividing the
result by the number of months in the period.
|
Investor
Contact:
|
Press
Contact:
|
|
|
Kenneth Levy
|
Jordan
Hassin
|
Iridium Communications
Inc.
|
Iridium Communications
Inc.
|
+1 (703)
287-7570
|
+1 (703)
287-7421
|
ken.levy@iridium.com
|
jordan.hassin@iridium.com
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iridium-announces-first-quarter-2024-results-302120161.html
SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.