Satellite provider Iridium Communications has made public its first quarter 2022 financial report, announcing a total revenue of $168.2 million.
The McLean, Virginia-headquartered company said Tuesday that net income was $2.8 million for the first quarter of the year, a precipitous increase from its net loss of $5.2 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Matt Desch, CEO of Iridium and an eight-time Wash100 Award winner, characterized the company’s Q1 business as answering to “strong demand.”
“I’m continually amazed at the innovative ways in which our technology and distribution partners utilize our unique satellite network to drive growth and serve their respective markets,” Desch continued.
Out of its total $168.2 million quarter revenue, $126.1 million constituted service revenue, or periodically recurring subscriber revenue, and $42.1 million was attributable to equipment sales and engineering and support endeavors.
The company’s revenue totaled 15 percent more than the year-ago period in 2021, with a nine percent uptick in service revenue as compared to Q1 2021’s figure. Operational EBITDA for Iridium likewise experienced a 15 percent increase from last year’s first quarter result to this year, reaching the new height of $103.2 million.
At the conclusion of the first quarter 2022, Iridium claimed over 1.7 million billable subscribers in contrast to around 1.5 million subscribers by the end of Q1 2021. This represents a year-over-year gain of 17 percent, which the company says is largely a byproduct of its expanding commercial Internet of Things technology business.
Public sector revenue was $26.5 million during the first quarter of 2022 and included a government subscriber count of 146,000. Iridium’s main public sector offerings are its voice and data services, which aim to assist military personnel with situational awareness and tracking assets in challenging deployment areas. Government voice and data subscribers came in at a three percent ascension from the previous year period.
Iridium anticipates a hearty remaining three quarters of fiscal year 2022, with service revenue growth of five to seven percent for the entire year, as well as an OEBIDTA landing in the $400 to $410 million range.
“Cash flow remains very strong,” Desch concluded, assuring that the company will “continue to execute on our long-standing promise to return capital to shareholders.”
