“The impact of the German analogue switch-off at the end of April 2012 was, as expected, the major factor influencing the comparison with the prior year period. Excluding this, revenue and EBITDA grew strongly and the EBITDA margin remained stable,” said SES’s President and CEO Romain Bausch.

 

Revenue actually grew by more than 5 percent, when excluding the German shut-off.

 

As far as the outlook for the remainder of the year, revenue development during 2013 will be weighted to the second half of the year, the timing and magnitude of which will be subject to the eventual launch dates of satellites delivering new capacity, and to fleet health status, SES’sannouncement.

 

The company expects EBITDA growth by approximately 7 to 8 percent, to reflect an increased contribution from services activities this year. Also, excluding the analogue impact, SES expects revenue growth to be in the 6.5 to 7.5 percent range.