www.avantiplc.com
Avanti Communications is engaged in the provision of satellite broadband Internet services. The Company consists of three divisions: Space, which includes satellite business selling Ku and Ka bandwidth on its Hylas satellite; Network Services, which is engaged in the provision of data communications services by satellite, and Consultancy, which is engaged in the provision of telecommunication consultancy and engineering services.
Avanti Communications to raise £73.8 mln to fully fund HYLAS 3 satellite
Avanti Communications Group (LON:AVN) reported a strong rise in revenues for the first half and announced a placing to raise £73.8 million after expenses to fully fund the design, construction and launch of the HYLAS 3 satellite.
Avanti will issue 26,785,714 shares with new and existing institutional investors.
The satellite broadband Internet service provider said HYLAS 3 will be a "hosted payload", flown on a new European Space Agency (ESA) satellite. HYLAS 3 is to provide Ka band services, as with HYLAS 1 and 2.
Under the terms of the ESA programme, Avanti will retain ownership and operational control of the HYLAS 3 hosted payload.
Avanti was selected by ESA after a competitive tendering process conducted last year. The final contract is expected to be signed in March 2012.
Avanti and ESA have also worked together on ESA's first public private partnership which led to the successful launch of HYLAS 1.
HYLAS 1 launched in November 2010, and HYLAS 2 is currently on track for a June 2012 delivery date. Avanti has notified launch service provider Arianespace that it wants to launch as soon as possible after June 30.
The sales of capacity on HYLAS 1 and pre-sales on HYLAS 2 to date demonstrate that demand for Ka band satellite capacity is evident at the expected prices, Avanti said.
The group said it seems likely that it will sell out the capacity on HYLAS 1 within three years of service launch.
In the light of the demand it is experiencing, it has also accelerated the guidance previously provided for the sell-out of HYLAS 2, from five years after service launch to four years.
In a separate statement, Avanti reported a rise in revenues for the first half to December 31 2011 to £5.135 million from £1.227 million in the previous first half. Pretax loss widened slightly to £6.6 million from £6.3 million.
