Hispasat´s shareholders approve, with Eutelsat´s abstention, to start actions for the potential listing on the Stock Exchange of the Company
08 June 2007 |
Hispasat´s Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders agreed, with Eutelsat´s abstention, on the meeting which took place today, to approve the proposal, submitted by the Company´s Board of Directors on April 27th, 2007 for beginning all the required actions for the potential listing of the Company, for which it shall request from the relevant administrative and regulatory authorities the amendment of the legal framework applicable to the Company.
The agreement reached has its source in the shareholders´ idea that the Company´s maturity and development is enough for trying to maximize its value and for providing its shares with the required liquidity through the start of the listing of the Company.
In order to adopt this decision, the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders has taken into account the opinions in favor collected in the feasibility analysis carried out by three reputed institutions, all of which agree about the opportunity and feasibility of its listing and in the attractiveness which Hispasat presents for the investors. Hispasat meets all the internal and external requirements for this kind of transactions; it is large enough, it has an attractive Equity Story and growth potential. Besides, it is a company which currently enjoys a high turnover and income visibility, it has high and growing EBITDA margins, a predictable and strong cash-flow generation capacity and it also presents attractive growth rates, to which must be added its leading market position.
Hispasat´s listing constitutes an opportunity for the Company, which shall be a very attractive value for investors. Hispasat has growth potential and vitality for maintaining its autonomy. The results recently submitted guarantee the success of the new management model.
Approval of the Accounts for the financial year
The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders examined and unanimously approved the Annual Accounts, the Directors¿ Report and the Profit Distribution for the financial year closed on December 31st, 2006, both for the Company itself and for the consolidated group. In this financial year, the Group´s turnover amounted to 120.5 Million Euros, reaching a net profit of 24.5 Million Euros.
The total turnover as of December 31st, 2006 reached 120.5 Million Euros, with a 20.9% increase on the same period of the previous financial year. Of this amount, 117.2 Million Euros (97.3%) correspond to the turnover generated by the space capacity.
The operating expenses recorded during the financial year 2006 amounted to 31.8 Million Euros. From the evolution of the above items, it can be deducted a consolidated EBITDA, as of December 31st, 2006 of 88.6 Million Euros. That amount represents a 26.7% improvement on the 69.9 Million Euros earned during the same period of the previous year. On the closing of 2006 the EBITDA margin amounted to 73.6%, experiencing a 3.4% improvement against the figure recorded in 2005.
Profit distribution
Equally, the General Meeting of Shareholders Junta General also unanimously approved the proposal submitted by the Board of Directors for the distribution of 25% of the profits of the Net Income corresponding to the financial year 2006 among the shareholders. This proposal makes it possible to maintain the high profitability level for Hispasat´s shareholders, and combines the preference for current turnover with maintaining within the Company assets enough for carrying out the investments required for allowing Hispasat to reach its strategic objectives, which shall contribute to achieve future increases of the value in benefit of its shareholders.