Iridium Announces Second-Quarter 2012 Results; Company Achieves 21% Subscriber Growth and Updates 2012 and Long-Range Outlook

Iridium Announces Second-Quarter 2012 Results; Company Achieves 21% Subscriber Growth and Updates 2012 and Long-Range Outlook

Iridium Communications Inc today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2012 and updated its full-year 2012 and long-range outlook. Net income was $17.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2012, as compared to $11.7 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2011. Net income increased 51 percent year-over-year, benefitting from a $6.6 million reduction in depreciation expense due to an extension of the estimated useful life of the Company's current satellite constellation. Operational EBITDA ("OEBITDA")(1) for the second quarter was $52.0 million, as compared to $48.4 million for the prior-year period, representing year-over-year growth of 7 percent and an OEBITDA margin(1) of 53 percent. OEBITDA benefited from solid growth in commercial service and equipment revenue.

Iridium reported second-quarter total revenue of $97.3 million, which consisted of $68.5 million of service revenue and $28.8 million of equipment, engineering and support revenue. Total revenue grew 1 percent versus the comparable period of 2011, while service revenue increased 5 percent from the year-ago period. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, was 70 percent of total revenue for the second quarter of 2012 as compared to 68 percent in the year-ago period.

The Company ended the quarter with 576,000 total billable subscribers, which compares to 478,000 for the year-ago period and 544,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. Total billable subscribers grew 21 percent year-over-year, driven by strength in machine-to-machine ("M2M") and commercial voice customers.

"Iridium remains on a solid, long-term growth trajectory, with good progress in several key areas of our commercial business being partially offset by what we believe is short-term weakness in traditional government voice subscribers," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. "Our M2M, maritime broadband and aviation markets continue to grow revenue and subscribers in the double-digits on a year-over-year basis, built on the foundation of a superior network, innovative partner channel and favorable competitive dynamics. In addition, we expect our global aviation monitoring venture, Aireon, to be a meaningful new source of high-margin revenue once Iridium NEXT is launched."

Desch continued, "In our government business, Netted Iridium(SM) and M2M services continue to grow at a healthy clip, while our service revenue in the high-ARPU traditional handset segment continues to be impacted by reduced government spending and troop levels. Taking a longer-term view, our strategic relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense remains strong and they continue to spend with us on developing new products and a multi-year modernization plan for their dedicated gateway."

Iridium Business Highlights

Service -- Commercial

Commercial service remained the largest part of Iridium's business, representing 54 percent of the Company's total revenue during the second quarter. The Company's commercial customer base is diverse and includes markets such as maritime, aviation, oil and gas, mining, recreation, forestry, construction, transportation and emergency services. These customers rely on Iridium's products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure.