An EchoStar facility. Photo: EchoStar.

In its First Quarter (Q1) financial results released Thursday, EchoStar Corporation reported consolidated revenues of $465.7 million, a 2% Year-Over-Year (YOY) increase.

Net loss from continuing operations was $57.7 million, an increase of loss by $53.5 million from Q1 2019. EchoStar attributed the increased loss to higher unrealized and realized losses on investments of $53.6 million which included the write-off of a strategic investment, higher depreciation and amortization of $13.4 million, and higher unrealized losses on foreign currency of $9.7 million. 

Most of the company’s revenue came from its subsidiary Hughes, which reported $458 million in revenue, a 3% increase from Q1 2019. 66% of Hughes segment revenue was attributable to consumer customers, approximately 34% attributable to enterprise customers. In addition, Hughes added approximately 39,000 broadband subscribers in Q1, reporting 1,516,000 subscribers at the end of the quarter, including approximately 267,000 subscribers in Latin America. 

EchoStar highlighted that it signed the FCC‘s Keeping America Connected Pledge to support people working and studying from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its subscriber numbers exclude those whose service would have been terminated in the absence of the Pledge.

“The pandemic has demonstrated that staying connected is a necessity, not a luxury, and our solid performance in the first quarter of 2020, despite the global crisis, reflects this reality,” EchoStar President and CEO Michael Dugan said. “Although these are extremely challenging times, the pandemic has made even more evident the worldwide demand for connectivity.”