2022-07-27

Iridium Announces Record Second-Quarter 2022 Results - Outstanding growth in Iridium Push-to-Talk

Source: Iridium
Curated by: Gert Jan Wolf - Editor-in Chief for The Critical Communications Review

Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) ("Iridium") today reported financial results for the second quarter of 2022 and updated its full-year 2022 outlook. Net income was $4.6 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2022, as compared to net income of $3.8 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2021. This change in net income was primarily the result of growth in total revenue, which was broad based. Operational EBITDA ("OEBITDA")(1) for the second quarter was up 12% to a record $105.9 million, as compared to $94.8 million for the prior-year period, representing an OEBITDA margin(1) of 61%.

Iridium reported second-quarter total revenue of $174.9 million, which consisted of $132.9 million of service revenue and $42.0 million of revenue related to equipment sales and engineering and support projects. Total revenue increased 17% from the comparable period of 2021, while service revenue grew 10% from the year-ago period. Service revenue, which represents primarily recurring revenue from Iridium's growing subscriber base, was 76% of total revenue for the second quarter of 2022.

The Company ended the quarter with 1,875,000 total billable subscribers, which compares to 1,616,000 for the year-ago period and is up from 1,781,000 for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Total billable subscribers grew 16% year-over-year driven primarily by growth in commercial IoT.

"2022 is shaping up to be a blockbuster year for Iridium, as demand for equipment and new subscriber activations drove record revenue growth in the second quarter," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. Desch continued, "We're seeing momentum across all commercial product areas. In addition to ongoing strength in IoT and broadband, we are also seeing outstanding growth in service offerings like Iridium® Push-to-Talk and Iridium GO!®"

Commenting on Iridium's increased guidance, Desch added, "Based upon the momentum that we continue to see from our extensive global ecosystem of business partners, we are raising our full-year outlook for service revenue growth to between 7% and 9%, and for OEBITDA to between $410 million and $420 million in 2022."

(1) Subscribers as of the end of the respective period.