A view of Globalstar offices. Photo credit: Globalstar

Globalstar has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, with an increase in total revenue by $4 million, or 17 percent, compared to the first quarter of 2017. This increase resulted primarily from higher service revenue across all core revenue streams, driven by growth in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Partially offsetting this increase was a decrease in subscriber equipment sales.

Service revenue increased $4.5 million, or 21 percent, mainly due to higher Spot and Duplex service revenue, which increased $2.6 million and $1.2 million, respectively. Higher Spot and Duplex ARPU were the main drivers for this growth, increasing 18 percent and 23 percent, respectively. Rate plan increases continue to be the primary driver for higher ARPU. Fluctuations in the average subscriber base also impacted service revenue, with Spot subscribers increasing 5 percent and Duplex subscribers decreasing 6 percent.

Subscriber equipment sales revenue declined 16 percent, due primarily to a decrease in Duplex equipment revenue.

Loss from operations decreased $2.1 million, or 14 percent, from $15.1 million to $13 million. Net income loss fluctuated from a loss of $20.2 million in the first quarter of 2017 to income of $87.9 million in the first quarter of 2018. The primary reason for this change was a higher non-cash derivative gain, up from $3.2 million to $108.9 million.

Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) increased 39 percent to $7.5 million.