UAE Satellite Company Yahsat Reports Dh175 Million Net Profit

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat), the UAE’s leading satellite solutions provider, reported a 5% increase in its first-half (H1) net profit to AED 175 million ($48 million).

The company’s improved margin rose to 23%, up from the previous year’s 22%. While H1 revenue remained stable at AED 753 million, normalized EBITDA increased by 3% to AED 460 million compared to the previous year.

(EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization)

Yahsat experienced revenue growth in its Infrastructure segment, which provides communications capacity to the UAE government, and in its Data Solutions segment, offering satellite-based broadband data solutions. Managed Solutions, which provides value-added satellite communications solutions primarily to the UAE government, maintained its revenue levels compared to the prior year.

The Mobility Solutions segment, represented by Thuraya, a business offering mobile satellite services, achieved strong double-digit growth driven by increased equipment sales.

The company’s contracted future revenue stood at AED 7.0 billion, which is stable compared to the end of Q1 2023 and equivalent to 4.4 times the last-twelve-month revenue.

Yahsat also witnessed improved cash generation, with Discretionary Free Cash Flow reaching AED 296 million, a 34% increase from the previous year. The company’s balance sheet showed negative net debt of over AED 454 million, with total available liquidity at AED 2.3 billion.

The company returned positive net finance income due to higher interest rates on short-term deposits compared to the previous year.

Yahsat is planning to increase its full-year 2023 dividend by at least 2% to AED 402 million, which would result in an annualized dividend yield of over 6%, among the highest offered by UAE-listed stocks.

Yahsat’s guidance for full-year revenue, EBITDA, and Discretionary Free Cash Flow remained unchanged.

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While cash capex and investments guidance was increased to a range of AED 643-716 million to reflect the commencement of satellite procurement for the ‘AlYah 4’ and ‘AlYah 5’ projects.

The company is also working on forming a partnership with Bayanat to offer Earth Observation capabilities using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology.