Inmarsat sticks by annual revenue guidance

Inmarsat left its guidance unchanged as the satellite operator posted rising revenue and falling earnings for the first quarter.

Group revenue rose 4.8% to $345.4m (£253m) in the three months to the end of March as growth in its maritime and aviation businesses offset lower revenue from government contracts.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 4.5% to $174.9m as costs rose. Direct costs increased by $16.9m to $53m, reflecting a “changing revenue mix” across the business, while $9.1m of adverse currency swings pushed indirect costs up by $7.2m to $117.5m.

The company stuck by its target for 2018 revenue of $1.3-1.5bn excluding Ligado, a US satellite company that uses Inmarsat’s spectrum.

Chief executive Rupert Pearce felt it was "another solid performance", with revenue growth building on the "positive momentum" from 2017.

"Given our track record, unique capabilities, differentiated market position and strong channels to market, we are increasingly well placed to deliver further annual revenue growth across all of our target maritime, government, aviation and enterprise markets," he said.

Back in March, Inmarsat said it would cut its annual dividend to 20 cents a share for 2018 from 33.62 cents in 2017. It said the decision was due to a pause in payments from Ligado and a decision to invest cash in the in-flight wi-fi market.

The company’s shares, which have more than halved in the past year, rose 8.5% to 396.4p at 09:00 BST.