Sarah Simon, a satellite equity analyst at Berenberg said in the research note that the analog switch-off now creates some new challenges for the operator. “As the analog door closes, SES must now embark on selling the freed-up capacity as soon as possible – and at as high as possible a rate per transponder,” she said. “Key to this will be further progress in the development of HD in Germany, Spain, France and Poland, all of which are behind the curve in terms of the number of HD channel compared to (for example) the United Kingdom.”

   Simon believes that SES gave clear guidance as to the impact of analog switch-off, both in the current financial year and in the medium- to long-term. “In our view, the 2012 expectations are particularly cautious and likely to be exceeded. We note that since SES announced the guidance with its full-year 2011 results, both Sky Deutschland and RTL have added a transponder for HD, while two new Bavarian channels have also joined the 19.2 degrees orbital slot in SD. Furthermore, Super RTL HD and DMAX HD will join the HD Plus platform on May 1.”