Iridium Announces Record Third-Quarter 2024 Results; Improves 2024 OEBITDA Outlook
MCLEAN, Va., Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM) ("Iridium"), a leading provider of global voice and data satellite communications, today reported financial results for the third quarter of 2024 and updated its full-year 2024 outlook. Net income was $24.4 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2024, as compared to net loss of $1.6 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2023. Operational EBITDA ("OEBITDA")((1)) for the third quarter was a record $124.4 million, as compared to $121.3 million for the prior-year period. Net income benefitted from the year-over-year increases in service revenue, engineering and support revenue and equipment sales. In the third quarter, Iridium also had lower operating expenses compared to the prior year period primarily due to a decline in depreciation expense associated with the extension of the estimated useful lives of the Company's satellites.
Iridium reported record third-quarter total revenue of $212.8 million, which consisted of $159.9 million of service revenue and $52.9 million of revenue related to equipment sales and engineering and support projects. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, grew 5% from the year-ago period and was 75% of total revenue for the third quarter of 2024. Total revenue increased 8% versus the comparable period of 2023, largely due to higher commercial service revenue and government engineering revenue.
The Company ended the quarter with 2,482,000 total billable subscribers, which compares to 2,236,000 for the year-ago period and is up from 2,413,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Total billable subscribers grew 11% year-over-year, led by growth in commercial IoT.
"Robust revenue and subscriber growth in the third quarter continued to support Iridium's shareholder-friendly activities and ongoing capital returns. Since 2021, Iridium has returned over $1 billion to common shareholders through stock repurchase and dividend activities," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. Desch added, "Most recently, our Board of Directors further expanded our buyback program by authorizing the repurchase of an additional $500 million of Iridium common stock through December 31, 2027."
Iridium Business Highlights
Service - Commercial
Commercial service remained the largest part of Iridium's business, representing 63% of the Company's total revenue during the third 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. Many of these customers rely on Iridium's products and services as critical to their daily operations and integral to their communications and business infrastructure.
-- Commercial service revenue was $133.3 million, up 6% from last year's
comparable period primarily due to continued growth in IoT data and
voice and data services.
-- Commercial voice and data: Revenue was $57.7 million, up 3% from the
year-ago period. Subscribers grew 3% from the year-ago period to
422,000. Average revenue per user ("ARPU") was $46 during the third
quarter, unchanged from the prior year period.
-- Commercial IoT data: Revenue was $43.7 million, up 14% from the
year-ago period. Subscribers grew 14% from the year-ago period to
1,902,000 customers, driven by continued growth in consumer personal
communications devices and commercial users. ARPU was $7.79 in the
third quarter, compared to $7.90 in the prior year period.
-- Commercial broadband: Revenue was $15.5 million, down 1% from $15.8
million in the year-ago period due to the transition of our maritime
user base to a companion service for VSAT solutions. ARPU was $309
during the third quarter, compared to $322 in the prior year period.
-- Hosted payload and other data service: Revenue was $16.4 million, up
9% from $15.0 million in the year-ago period. The increase reflected
higher revenue from other data services, including from Iridium's
growing PNT services, which more than offset a year-over-year
decrease in hosted payload revenue recognition related to the
extension in the estimated useful lives of Iridium's satellites.
-- Iridium's commercial business ended the quarter with 2,341,000 billable
subscribers, which compares to 2,094,000 for the prior-year quarter and
is up from 2,271,000 for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. IoT data
subscribers represented 81% of billable commercial subscribers at the
end of the quarter, an increase from 80% at the end of the corresponding
prior-year period.
Service - U.S. Government
Iridium's voice and data solutions improve situational awareness for military personnel and track critical assets in tough environments around the globe, providing a unique value proposition that is not easily duplicated.
Under Iridium's Enhanced Mobile Satellite Services contract (the "EMSS Contract"), a seven-year, $738.5 million fixed-price airtime contract with the U.S. Space Force signed in September 2019, Iridium provides specified satellite airtime services, including unlimited global standard and secure voice, paging, fax, Short Burst Data(®), Iridium Burst(®), RUDICS and Distributed Tactical Communications System services for an unlimited number of Department of Defense and other federal government subscribers. Iridium also provides maintenance and support work for the U.S. government's dedicated Iridium(®) gateway under two other contracts with the U.S. Space Force, which is accounted for as engineering and support revenue. Iridium Certus(®) airtime services are not included under these contracts and may be procured separately for an additional fee.
-- Government service revenue remained relatively unchanged from the
prior-year quarter at $26.5 million in the third quarter. On September
15, 2024, the EMSS Contract's annual rate increased to $107 million,
reflecting a previously negotiated contractual step up.
-- Iridium's U.S. government business ended the quarter with 141,000
subscribers, which compares to 142,000 at each of the prior-year quarter
and the quarter ended June 30, 2024. The Company expects subscriber
count to be variable due to the nature of this fixed-price contract.
Government voice and data subscribers increased 3% from the year-ago
period to 63,000 as of September 30, 2024. Government IoT data
subscribers decreased 4% year-over-year and represented 55% of
government subscribers at quarter-end.
Equipment
-- Equipment revenue was $22.2 million in the third quarter, up 9% compared
to $20.4 million in the prior-year quarter.
-- In 2024, the Company expects equipment sales to be lower than 2023 and
more in line with periods prior to 2022.
Engineering & Support
-- Engineering and support revenue was $30.7 million during the third
quarter, up 22% compared to $25.2 million in the prior-year quarter,
primarily due to a rise in activity with the U.S. government.
-- In 2024, the Company expects engineering and support revenue to increase
from 2023 with expanded work on the Space Development Agency contract.
Capital expenditures were $18.6 million for the third quarter, including $1.3 million in capitalized interest. The Company ended the third quarter with gross Term Loan debt of $1.8 billion and a cash and cash equivalents balance of $159.6 million. The Company upsized its Term Loan by $200 million in July 2024 and has used cash to continue to execute on its share repurchase plan. The Company ended the third quarter with a net debt balance of $1.7 billion, representing net leverage of 3.5 times trailing twelve months OEBITDA.
Iridium paid a dividend of $0.14 per common share on September 30, 2024, resulting in year-to-date dividend payments of $49.1 million to stockholders.
During the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 4.7 million shares of its common stock, or 4% of outstanding shares, under its previously announced share repurchase program at a total purchase price of $128.6 million, excluding related commissions and taxes. On September 19, 2024, the Company's Board of Directors authorized an additional $500 million in share repurchases through December 31, 2027 and, as of September 30, 2024, $552.2 million remained available and authorized for repurchase under this program. The Company has retired 25.8 million shares, equivalent to $947.8 million since its share repurchase program commenced in February 2021.
2024 Outlook and Longer-Term Outlook
The Company updated its full-year 2024 outlook:
-- Total service revenue growth of approximately 5% for full-year 2024.
Total service revenue for 2023 was $584.5 million. (Previous guidance
was for total service revenue growth between 4% and 6% for full-year
2024.)
-- Full-year 2024 OEBITDA between $465 million and $470 million. OEBITDA
for 2023 was $463.1 million. (Previous guidance was for full-year 2024
OEBITDA of between $460 million and $470 million.)
-- Cash taxes of less than $10 million per year from 2024 through 2026. We
expect that the longer-term cash tax rate will move closer to the
statutory rate in 2028.
-- Net leverage below 4.0 times OEBITDA through 2026 and falling below 2.0
times OEBITDA by the end of the decade, assuming ongoing execution of
the Company's share repurchase authorization and the payment of
quarterly dividends consistent with the current level. Net leverage was
3.1 times OEBITDA at December 31, 2023.
(1) Non-GAAP Financial Measures & Definitions
In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company provides Operational EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure, as a supplemental measure to help investors evaluate the Company's fundamental operational performance. Operational EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, gain (loss) on equity method investments, acquisition and related costs, and share-based compensation expenses. Management believes such charges are incidental to, but not reflective of, the Company's day-to-day operating performance. Operational EBITDA does not represent, and should not be considered, an alternative to U.S. GAAP measurements such as net income or loss. In addition, there is no standardized measurement of Operational EBITDA, and the Company's calculations thereof may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. The Company believes Operational EBITDA is a useful measure across time in evaluating its fundamental core operating performance. Management also uses Operational EBITDA to manage the business, including in preparing its annual operating budget, debt covenant compliance, financial projections and compensation plans. The Company believes that Operational EBITDA is also useful to investors because similar measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in their evaluation of companies in similar industries. As indicated, Operational EBITDA does not include interest expense on borrowed money, the payment of income taxes, amortization of the Company's definite-lived intangible assets, or depreciation expense on the Company's capital assets, which are necessary elements of the Company's operations. Since Operational EBITDA does not account for these and other expenses, its utility as a measure of the Company's operating performance has material limitations. Due to these limitations, the Company's management does not view Operational EBITDA in isolation, but also uses other measurements, such as net income, revenues and operating profit, to measure operating performance. Please refer to the schedule below for a reconciliation of consolidated GAAP net income to Operational EBITDA and Iridium's Investor Relations webpage at www.iridium.com for a discussion and reconciliation of this and other non-GAAP financial measures. The Company does not provide a forward-looking reconciliation of expected full-year 2024 Operational EBITDA guidance as the amount and significance of certain items, such as share-based compensation, acquisition related costs and gain/loss on equity method investments, required to develop meaningful comparable GAAP financial measures cannot be estimated at this time without unreasonable efforts.
Iridium Communications Inc.
Supplemental Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income (Loss) to Operational EBITDA
(In thousands)
Three Months Ended September 30, Nine Months Ended September 30,
2024 2023 2024 2023
GAAP net income (loss) $24,446 $(1,642) $76,435 $(22,608)
Interest expense, net 24,246 34,660 68,706 71,273
Income tax (benefit) expense 6,005 (6,009) 18,501 (16,673)
Depreciation and amortization 51,160 76,825 151,680 267,213
Share-based compensation 17,678 15,943 51,026 45,500
Acquisition and related costs(1) 410 2,785
(Gain) loss, net on equity method investments 467 1,489 (15,664) 4,321
Operational EBITDA $124,412 $121,266 $353,469 $349,026
(1) Represents direct costs incurred in connection with the negotiation, consummation and integration of acquisition transactions, whether or not actually
completed. These costs generally include legal and advisory fees, severance and other related costs.
Conference Call Information
As previously announced, the Company will host a conference call to discuss its results at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, October 17, 2024. Callers should dial 1-412-902-6740 to access the call. The conference call will also be simultaneously webcast on Iridium's Investor Relations webpage at www.iridium.com. An archive of the webcast will be available following the live conference call.
About Iridium Communications Inc.
Iridium(®) is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations, and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. In 2024, Iridium acquired Satelles, Inc. and announced the Iridium Satellite Time and Location service. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services, and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Iridium's expectations with respect to total service revenue growth, OEBITDA and cash taxes for 2024; cash taxes and net leverage over the long term; anticipated equipment sales and engineering and support service revenue for 2024; amount and timing of share repurchases, the payment of dividends, expected revenues from its EMSS contract with the U.S. government and subscriber count. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects," "intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding customer demand for Iridium's products and services, including demand from the U.S. government; Iridium's ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, and the development of and market for Iridium's products and services, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on February 15, 2024, and the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, filed with the SEC on July 23, 2024, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking statements are based on information available to it as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the date of this press release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.
Iridium Communications Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands)
Three Months Ended September 30,
2024 2023
Revenue
Service revenue
Commercial $133,309 $125,450
Government 26,546 26,500
Total service revenue 159,855 151,950
Subscriber equipment 22,169 20,422
Engineering and support service 30,747 25,230
Total revenue 212,771 197,602
Operating expenses
Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) 43,848 41,394
Cost of subscriber equipment sales 12,769 12,823
Research and development 6,189 5,037
Selling, general and administrative 43,953 33,368
Depreciation and amortization 51,160 76,825
Total operating expenses 157,919 169,447
Operating income (loss) 54,852 28,155
Other income (expense), net
Interest expense, net (24,246) (34,660)
Other income, net 312 343
Total other expense, net (23,934) (34,317)
Income (loss) before income taxes and loss on equity method investments 30,918 (6,162)
Income tax benefit (expense) (6,005) 6,009
Loss on equity method investments (467) (1,489)
Net income (loss) $24,446 $(1,642)
Operational EBITDA $124,412 $121,266
Iridium Communications Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands)
Nine Months Ended September 30,
2024 2023
Revenue
Service revenue
Commercial $381,353 $356,941
Government 79,546 79,500
Total service revenue 460,899 436,441
Subscriber equipment 69,819 89,474
Engineering and support service 86,973 70,068
Total revenue 617,691 595,983
Operating expenses
Cost of services (exclusive of depreciation and amortization) 129,761 113,431
Cost of subscriber equipment sales 40,595 56,075
Research and development 19,899 14,541
Selling, general and administrative 127,487 109,391
Depreciation and amortization 151,680 267,213
Total operating expenses 469,422 560,651
Operating income 148,269 35,332
Other expense, net
Interest expense, net (68,706) (71,273)
Other income (expense), net (291) 981
Total other expense, net (68,997) (70,292)
Income (loss) before income taxes 79,272 (34,960)
Income tax benefit (expense) (18,501) 16,673
Gain (loss), net on equity method investments 15,664 (4,321)
Net income (loss) $76,435 $(22,608)
Operational EBITDA $353,469 $349,026
Iridium Communications Inc.
Summary Revenue and OEBITDA Highlights
(In thousands)
Three Months Ended September Nine Months Ended September
30, 30,
2024 2023 % Change 2024 2023 % Change
Revenue
Service revenue(1)
Commercial service revenue
Voice and data $57,693 $56,188 3 % $169,125 $163,593 3 %
IoT data(2) 43,695 38,460 14 % 124,759 104,971 19 %
Broadband(3) 15,549 15,782 (1) % 42,719 43,258 (1) %
Hosted payload and other data service(4) 16,372 15,020 9 % 44,750 45,119 (1) %
Total commercial service revenue 133,309 125,450 6 % 381,353 356,941 7 %
Government service revenue(5) 26,546 26,500 - % 79,546 79,500 - %
Total service revenue 159,855 151,950 5 % 460,899 436,441 6 %
Subscriber equipment 22,169 20,422 9 % 69,819 89,474 (22) %
Engineering and support(6)
Commercial 1,731 1,881 (8) % 4,404 9,304 (53) %
Government 29,016 23,349 24 % 82,569 60,764 36 %
Total engineering and support 30,747 25,230 22 % 86,973 70,068 24 %
Total revenue $212,771 $197,602 8 % $617,691 $595,983 4 %
Operational EBITDA
Operational EBITDA $124,412 $121,266 3 % $353,469 $349,026 1 %
Other
Capital expenditures(7) $18,616 $11,998 $45,622 $57,285
Net debt(8) $1,652,722 $1,432,123
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities $159,588 $67,877
Term Loan, gross $1,812,310 $1,500,000
Deferred financing costs (17,537) (18,076)
Term Loan, net $1,794,773 $1,481,924
(1)
Service revenue consists of primarily subscription-based services which often generate a long-term recurring revenue stream from subscribers.
(2) IoT data service provides a two-way short burst data transmission between Iridium's network and a telemetry unit, which may be located, for example, on a
container in transit or a buoy monitoring oceanographic conditions.
(3)
Broadband is comprised of Iridium OpenPort(R) and Iridium Certus.
(4) Hosted payload and other services consist primarily of services that do not have traditional billable subscribers. Hosted payload services consist of
hosting and data services to our payload customers, Aireon and Harris. Other services include primarily Iridium's one-way satellite timing, location,
and authentication services (STL) which provides position, navigation and timing technology.
(5) Government service revenue consists of voice and IoT data subscription-based services provided to agencies of the U.S. government through prime
contracts.
(6) Engineering and support includes maintenance services to the U.S. government's dedicated gateway and engineering services to assist customers in
developing new technologies for use on Iridium's satellite system.
(7)
Capital expenditures based on cash spent in the respective period.
(8) Net debt is calculated by taking the sum of the gross Term Loan and gross drawn Revolving Facility, less cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
Iridium Communications Inc.
Subscriber Highlights
(In thousands, except ARPU)
As of September 30,
2024 2023 % Change
Billable Subscribers (1) (2)
Commercial
Voice and data, IoT data and Broadband service
Voice and data 422 410 3 %
IoT data 1,902 1,667 14 %
Broadband (3) 16.7 16.5 1 %
Total commercial voice and data, IoT data and Broadband service 2,341 2,094 12 %
Government
Voice and data and IoT data service
Voice and data 63 61 3 %
IoT data 78 81 (4) %
Total government voice and data and IoT data service 141 142 (1) %
Total billable subscribers 2,482 2,236 11 %
Three Months Ended September Nine Months Ended September
30, 30,
2024 2023 % Change 2024 2023 % Change
Net Billable Subscriber Additions
Commercial
Voice and data. IoT data and Broadband service
Voice and data 5 5 - % 14 13 8 %
IoT data 65 89 (27) % 193 219 (12) %
Broadband (0.1) 0.4 (125) % 0.1 1.5 (93) %
Total commercial voice and data, IoT data and Broadband service 70 94 (26) % 207 233 (11) %
Government
Voice and data and IoT data service
Voice and data 1 (100) % 1 1 - %
IoT data (1) NM (5) 2 (350) %
Total government voice and data and IoT data service (1) 1 (200) % (4) 3 (233) %
Total net billable subscriber additions 69 95 (28) % 203 236 (14) %
Three Months Ended September Nine Months Ended September
30, 30,
2024 2023 % Change 2024 2023 % Change
ARPU (2) (4)
Commercial
Voice and data $46 $46 - % $45 $45 - %
IoT data $7.79 $7.90 (1) % $7.68 $7.49 3 %
Broadband $309 $322 (4) % $284 $305 (7) %
(1)
Subscribers as of the end of the respective period.
(2) Billable subscriber and ARPU data is not applicable for Hosted payload and other data service revenue items and is excluded from presentation above.
(3)
Broadband is comprised of Iridium OpenPort(R) and Iridium Certus.
(4) Average monthly revenue per unit, or ARPU, is calculated by dividing revenue in the respective period by the average of the number of billable subscribers
at the beginning of the period and the number of billable subscribers at the end of the period and then dividing the result by the number of months in
the period.
Investor Contact: Press Contact:
Kenneth Levy Jordan Hassin
Iridium Communications Inc. Iridium Communications
Inc.
+1 (703) 287-7570 +1 (703) 287-7421
ken.levy@iridium.com jordan.hassin@iridium.com
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SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.
